Limbo
by TheLostArchive
Summary: A purple gap is found lurking around reality. Inside it bares fantasy. A world of unknown and adventure at every turn. This world is Gensokyo, a monster's paradise and a human's Hell. If you could muster up the courage to glance inside this gap, you may find that looks can be deceiving... (Rated T), (ON HIATUS, WILL BE BACK SHORTLY), (TITLE STILL UNDECIDED).
1. Lady Patchouli is Sick

The morning smelled fresh with flowers and allergies.

The Hakurei Shrine maiden slowly rose from her futon and sneezed. _"Damn these allergies..."_ She cursed and began searching for her glass of water, half awake.

The brunette let out a little squeak as she moved around. Weight kept pulling her down in place to the point where it hurt to breath. Quickly kicking off the covers of the futon, she spotted a blonde haired witch sleeping soundly on top of her.

 **THWACK!**

The witch was kicked a couple feet away, waking up immediately when hitting the hard floor. "Hey Reimu! Watch where you kick!"

"Well you shouldn't have been sleeping here in the first place! Wheres your futon Marisa?" Reimu scanned the area with no luck and growled under her breath.

The blonde stood up almost wobbling a bit. She was in her basic underwear and a white tank top she usually has under her regular outfit. It baffled Reimu how she could wear so many layers in the middle of Summer. She never even broke a sweat at times! Reimu in her usual outfit of red and white was a lot less compared to the witches attire.

"Ehe, I got lonely." Marisa said scratching her back.

Outside was sunny and almost seemed like it was noon. A newspaper lay on the steps of the worn-down shrine next to an empty, brown donation box. The shrine looked so beat up that anyone passing by could immediately assume that it's deserted, as there are bugs creating holes on the outside. It bared stains with posters loosely hanging off of it. In no way did it look like a Shinto shrine nor acted like one, because the big problem that drives people away is not the tattered shrine, but the youkai who infest it.

Reimu has dealt with several complaints and rumors that youkai are carelessly freeloading around the shrine and everytime she denies it. This is a lie though, since most passers could see at least one or two hiding around. Even Reimu herself can't tell if they're there or not.

She has regulars though. Some that are seeking refuge or some she can't chase away. There's this one oni who once started an incident to bring her kind back to the surface. Oni's are banned youkai which were somehow "sealed" underground some long time ago. She, sadly, was quickly caught and beat by Reimu as punishment, however the miko felt enough pity to let her stay. The oni hasn't left since. She goes by the name Suika Ibuki and is thrown out for a couple days when she's too drunk.

Outside the oni is sleeping on the branch of a tree. Her sake gourd is loosely hanging from her tiny hands while the wind moves the unsteady branch back and fourth. Reimu slowly creeps out of her shrine, stretching and yawning. As she walks under the tree to get her broom, Suika looses grip of the gourd.

 **BONK!**

"Ouch!" Reimu squeaked right after the gourd crashed down on her. Some sake leaked out onto the ground. Suika was slightly woken from commotion and positioned herself so she could examine.

"Sorry Rei..." She slurred.

Reimu gave her a stern glare and carried on.

Marisa stumbled out a few seconds later with a sigh, plopping herself right on the shrine's steps. Reimu heard the noise; the steps gave a creaky sound when you walked on them.

"How about you go home, Marisa?" Reimu asked.

Marisa simply ignored her and was playing with an old tea cup which was left on the steps. She sat up, "Wasn't this mine?"

This time Reimu decided to ignore her and started sweeping the area.

"You know, Reimu, your not going to get anywhere just doing that. Look around ya, there's nothin' here to sweep!" The witch spoke, "It ain't gonna give you any worshipers here either. Just cleaning nothing but the air won't do you too good. I know I'm not the type to run a business, but I sure do know how to reel people in ya hear? You should put that broom down and do something more, eh, productive if I may insist?"

Reimu threw down her broom and stormed over to the blonde witch, sneering in her face, "Tell me this when YOU learn responsibility."

"I'm sorry Reimu, but I gotta say that I have a long history of being responsible. I just don't want peeps like Alice or Patchouli knowin' that I have a side like this. Honest. Because hell what would they say when they learn I have more things to do than you? They'll die of laughter perhaps! I ain't as carefree as I may come off as Reimu. I sure am responsible enough and motivated enough to learn magic in the least." Marisa affirmed.

"And I may also be a compulsive liar as well as we may all know. But lying about this to you is the last thing I'd ever want to do."

"Hell, I know you're a compulsive liar Marisa, but you're also one of the laziest people I've ever seen." Reimu laughed.

Marisa gave a hearty laugh a few seconds later. "Come 'er!" She said and gave Reimu a shaky hug.

These two were indeed friends. From a far it would be exceptionally hard to tell due to their frequent arguing. Somehow, being almost polar opposites, their friends think they're an amazing pair altogether.

In the back of the shrine was a small pond that housed turtles. An oni-like creature with slicked back black, white, and red hair was crouching down watching the animals. An inchling shifted in front of the girl and waited for a response, but the girl didn't acknowledge her.

"Seija?"

The amanojaku stared at the pond almost like it were a mirror. It took her a while to make actual emotion, and when she did she gave off a smirk, baring her fangs.

"I hate this pond." She bubbled and stood up.

"I hate this place to. I hate being stuck here. It's making me go insane." She continued.

Seija started her daily rant like she usually does. Shinmyoumaru, that inchling, would just listen and never respond. Mostly because she never knows how to reply, or if Seija is even expecting an answer. She never even pauses just in case the inchling wants to talk, and the only screen-time she has is when Seija is out of ideas. The only thing the inchling picked up from Seija's yakking was how much she despised being trapped at the shrine, ever since Reimu captured her. It took a while for her and Seija's relationship to mend, but in the end the result was satisfying. Seija almost forgot about her past intentions but still kept a rebellious attitude. Yukari wanted Reimu to let her go already, but the miko plans to keep the amanojaku under watch until she felt comfortable setting her free. She could turn at any time.

Shinmyoumaru was just happy Seija acted normal again. The only thing different was the amount of talking she did.

"Yo kid."

Shinmyoumaru jumped when she heard Seija's voice.

"Listen to me when I'm talking will ya?" The amanojaku said.

"Reimu! The newspaper! Pick it up!" Marisa demanded as she took a sip of her sake.

Reimu picked up the tengu-written newspaper and sighed, "Even if I'm not subscribed to her, she still gives me her papers..."

"And what's with the sake? It isn't even 11 o'clock yet and you're drinking out of a party cup. Do you have no shame?"

"Aha, my shame was lost a long time ago." Marisa stated. "But don't worry. I bet the Gods are shaming me now."

Reimu opened the newspaper called "The Bunbunmaru Newspaper" and looked at the first article.

 **THE GREAT UN-MOVING LIBRARY BEDRIDDEN!**

 **It is now indeed the middle of summer where most youkai are too busy getting drunk in many places. Most of the fairies are even participating in these events. Now before I get to into detail about Summer, let's move on to the main point...**

It was almost as if Aya spoke to her through the article. That's exactly how she writes her newspapers, which make them greatly unique. Though most youkais are too busy goofing about to even have the patience to read anything, Reimu did have to give her credit at times. What really caught her eye about this one was the head-liner, so she skipped through a couple of lines to dig deep into the point. Marisa loomed over her a bit to get a closer look.

... **is what I kept hearing. I flew over to where the fairies were to ask them some questions about this rumor.**

 **What surprised me was when they started speaking clearly about the Scarlet Devil Mansion, where most of their kind do not like to mention. Perhaps it's the way they treat their fairy maids? The mistress herself even stated how useless they were after they got** _ **that**_ **maid.**

 **A youkai that lives inside the library is sick, as she recently just started going outside. Most say she caught a flu or allergies kicked in. Others would imply she was undoubtedly sick and bedridden. They've heard from the mistress herself that a casualty may be a new topic among this group of fai-**

"So she's sick..."

"Or she's dead. Either way, a good time to steal her books."

"You really don't have any shame, do you Marisa?" Reimu repeated, "At least show sympathy..."

 **THUMP!**

The duo turned right to see that the little oni fell off her branch. _"About time..."_

She picked herself up and brushed off her skirt then attempted to climb the tree again.

Seija walked out with Shinmyoumaru on her shoulders. Reimu shot her a glare.

"I'm just going for a stroll, Hakurei." She snorted.

"How 'bout we head over to the mansion and see the situation, eh? Pay good ol' Patchy a nice visit before whatever-will-happen?" Marisa convinced. "Besides, it's been a while since I've dropped by. They must be missin' me."

Reimu took a sip of her tea. "I doubt it really. All you do is cause trouble wherever you go which is why everyone here including me _wants you_ _ **dead**_."

"Now that's what I call harsh..."

The two humans jerked their heads around to see a mysterious lady behind them, covering her mouth with a fan.

"You should have more heart towards your friends Reimu."

"Nice of you to drop by so suddenly, Yukari." Reimu growled.

"Ah do not mind me. I'm borrowing some tea that's all. Ran is still missing from last time and Chen is her shikigami, so I cannot exactly command her. Even if I could she wouldn't listen. That cat lacks even the smallest brain." The gap youkai sit's down in between the duo. "And she's been so depressed lately now that her master is gone, somewhere. I almost feel bad for the poor thing."

Marisa didn't feel like blurting anything off-topic out as she saw the tension in the mood. Reimu and Yukari use to be good friends, until one event split them apart completely. Yukari still visits occasionally with the excuse of "borrowing tea" but otherwise the two don't get along anymore.

There was now a deafening silence between the two with no one knowing how to break it up. It was almost painful to sit there and watch them stare at each other so seriously with no intention of speaking another word. However, a wave of relief splashed them when they heard someone walk up to the shrine.

"H-Hey! Look who's here! It's our favorite one-armed hermit Kasen!" Marisa announced trying to make a flashy intro to distract the two. It worked, and Reimu turned her head to the pink-haired hermit. Yukari simply shrugged and gaped away not many seconds later.

"I'm sorry. Did I interrupt?" Kasen asked while sitting herself on the shrine's steps.

"Nah. Actually you came just in time." Marisa replied fanning herself. "Gee it's pretty hot already!"

"We were actually just about to head to the Scarlet Devil Mansion. I wouldn't say it's a good time to come because the shrine would look like it's infested with youkai, and it already does in some ways." Reimu said.

Marisa stood up and grabbed her broom, twirling around. "Come on come on Reimu! It's time to go fourth and explore!"

The mansion stood near a lake with an endless amount of mist. It looked run-down but not as much as the shrine. It was painted a shade of red before though now it was almost faded to a dark pink with some tears here and there on the walls. Most of the windows were stained but were cleaned regularly. Even the ground around the mansion was broken up and un-even. Perhaps the place would have been even more frayed if it hadn't been for certain maid they kept there.

A human maid actually. The only human who lives inside it too and is highly respected by the creatures inside. She carries a pocket watch which she uses to manipulate time. This could explain the reason why the mansion is not as worn out as it should be, as it has been around a lot longer than the vampire who lived there. No one knew where this maid came from anyways. Some say she was a vampire hunter and others say she's a Lunarian. The mistress knows this but has never released the truth to the public and probably never will. It's for the best either way.

The witch had a strange habit of coming to this mansion regularly. Most times she was chased out and others treated like a normal guest. The mansion doesn't get too many visitors so Marisa is the best they've got to cater to someone. Rarely Reimu comes by as well and crashes for a few days, which they hate. At least Marisa does stuff around there. Mostly when she's not a guest, the witch will break into the library and steal important spell books. Sometimes she'll steal them right out of the librarian's hand. She comes in so casually almost as if she _wants_ to get caught. Either that or she's a huge tease. She always gets away.

In other words this part of Gensokyo was without a doubt familiar to the two humans despite the blinding mist in their faces. The mist around the lake was so thick that not even the sun could pierce it at times. Once the two got out, the sun shone brightly on their faces.

"Ugh. Now I almost wish we were still flying through that cool mist..." Reimu complained. "It get's too hot around this time of year."

It wasn't too much longer until the mansion was in sight and the two went straight ahead. In front of the mansion was a gatekeeper who was busy making some type of chair, so it was easy to avoid her.

When the two got to the entrance of the library, Marisa stopped. Reimu looked at her with concern.

"M-Maybe this is a bad idea. I don't think railin' her up would be the best on her last legs..." Marisa sighed.

"Then how about we sneak in there as quietly as possible and get a couple? I heard dying people can't hear too well." Reimu suggested.

Marisa thought for a moment before nodding with delight. "As quiet as a mouse!"

The proud owner and vampire of the mansion Remilia Scarlet burst into the throne room. She wore a somber visage and groaned as she sat on her scarlet red throne.

"Damn this world... Damn this place... Damn it damn it DAMN IT!" She mumbled.

Her little sister Flandre Scarlet sat on the floor coloring a picture. "What is the matter sister?"

The scarlet devil glanced at her sister and smiled. "Nothing Flan. Just stress."

"Stress?"

"Yes, Flan, stress. You know what that is yes?"

"Um, sort of?"

Remilia let out a soft giggle. "You're too young to understand..."

"I'm almost as old as you sister! Don't call me young anymore!" The blonde pouted.

It wasn't too long ago since Flandre was let out of the basement. She was still unable to go outside due to her sister's concern, but Flandre wasn't that bothered by it. She enjoyed being inside if she had people to talk to, and the fairy maids were nice. The gatekeeper was nicer. The younger vampire enjoyed herself now that no one ignored her anymore.

Just then the door to the throne room flew open and in came the gatekeeper holding a chair above her head. It almost looked similar to Remilia's throne but smaller and less decorated, but still gave off the alluring feel. The gatekeeper set it down next to the taller throne.

"Nice work Meiling." Remilia complimented. "Flandre looks like she loves it already."

Flandre was very perplexed at the moment until Meiling spoke to her. "This was all the mistress' idea. She wanted to make you your very own throne!"

"Really sister? Is it really my own?" Flandre asked excitedly.

Remilia nodded triggering Flandre to climb all over it. Eventually she settled down and sat on it in a refined manner. Remilia then got up and beckoned Meiling to kneel down so she could tell her something.

"You have a backup just in case she breaks it, right?" She whispered.

"O-Oh. I didn't think that through. I'll start working on another one then!" Meiling said.

The younger vampire didn't notice the dragon starting to walk out of the room. When she did, she trotted over to the lady.

"Thank you Meiling. I forgot to say that."

The lady gave the blonde vampire a smile and pat her on the head. "You take care ok?"

"You to Meiling!"

In the background Remilia gave a slight growl, but it was so subtle that not even she caught it.

Inside the library were rows after rows after rows of book shelves filled with hundreds and hundreds of hand crafted books collected over the centuries. Some new and some old. Some missing due to the witch clothed in black and white. This would be a paradise to any nerd who fell into Gensokyo's realm and wondered upon here. Not even the librarian herself has read every book nor knows what's here. The library has the strangest assortment of books to. From magic spell books to manga and from old and torn diaries to cursed tomes. It had everything and anything no doubt, but the one who lived among these books was currently dying of disease.

The librarian laid in a bed set up recently, coarsely coughing repeatedly. Her name was Patchouli Knowledge, another powerful witch in Gensokyo. Yet due to her bad health she has to stay inside, and just so recently she started taking short walks outside the mansion. It is still unknown what she had caught but it was certainly life-threatening to the point where she was unable to walk and bedridden. The doctor from Eientei sent her pupil to diagnose the disease. The rabbit stated that they could make medicine however it'd take longer than the time Patchouli is expected to live. So, the attempt is useless and a complete waste of their time.

There she was reading a book and sipping a special herbal tea the rabbit recommended to relive some pain. The intruders snuck in a different way instead of the main entrance. One from the roof which was made by some cracks left untreated and eventually grew to the point where you could easily slip inside. Once they were in, Marisa took a leap to one shelf causing it to sway slightly.

She covered her own mouth and tried to balance at the same time, trying not to call out. Reimu was never the patient type so the second the shelf looked steady she hopped on as well, causing it to sway even more.

Marisa shot a glare at Reimu like she was saying _"Are you TRYING to get us killed?!"_. Reimu got the message and tried to steady herself as well.

"What are you planning to steal then?"

"Anything really. Doesn't matter. It'll all belong to me when she's gone." Marisa replied positioning herself to jump onto the next one. "It's hard to fly up here. Why...?"

"Must be a type of magic. Either that or it's more cramped up here then we believe it is. Perhaps an illusion?" Reimu theorized.

"Damn these illusions. I want my books!" Marisa growled.

Each shelf the duo hopped on felt even more unsteady than other, like it _was_ and illusion. And the shelves never seemed to end either no matter how far they went.

"To scare off intruders? A distance spell? Clever..." Reimu observed.

"Aw come on Reimu! This 'er be nothin' compared to my work! These are simply distance spells which can easily be done by yours trul-" Marisa was caught in mid-sentence as she found herself facing a red haired devil with black eyes. A terrifying look was good to scare off intruders, not just the illusions themselves.

"You're breaking in! And at a time like this where the lady is at her weakest! Have you no shame?!" The devil hissed.

"I'm getting' a strange sense of deja vu 'er or is it just me?" Marisa questioned.

"Ok Koakuma. We want no trouble this time. We'll head out." Reimu said trying to reason with her.

"Sure. I'll watch you."

"Hey Reimu! Don't give up so easily like that! We need our books!" The witch bellowed. "Let's have a duel of course! The best way to win something! And it's two against one! Easy win!"

Suddenly the books started acting on their own, shooting danmaku at the two humans. "You're right Marisa! This place is full of deja vu!" Reimu said dodging the bullets. "These books are cursed! Maybe I should just exterminate them like I would with a youkai!"

"If you do that, Lady Patchouli would be angry." Koakuma grinned and grabbed the two. "You'd be in for complete hell. I'll just take you to her and we shall see your fates."

Koakuma let the two go in front of Patchouli's bed. The humans couldn't do much but sit and wait, probably because they were influenced by the magic surrounding them.

"Lady Patchouli, I have brought a rat and her friend." Koakuma announced and bowed deeply. Marisa chuckled under her breath of how devoted the devil is to her master, but that would be almost hypocritical due to her own loyalty to Mima.

It took a while for poor Patchouli to sit up from her bed, and with that action came a rough fit of coughing. Reimu and Marisa looked away for a moment, afraid that she'd cough up blood at that rate. After she recovered, the purple witch looked bitterly at the two humans.

"You have a lot of gut coming here when I'm at death's door." She started talking more monotone than usual, "What the hell do you want Marisa?"

"You didn't acknowledge my buddy here." Marisa tapped Reimu.

"I know. But I know for a fact that she was forcefully dragged along to accompany you in your evil deeds as well. In other words she doesn't need to be acknowledged."

"Funny thing is that I was behind this in the first place. Thank the tengu." Reimu corrected.

"Ah, so you were behind this as well Reimu? Funny, I thought you were the type to beat up youkai on sight, not torture them slowly."

"I'm her motivation!" Marisa exclaimed. "Without me, Reimu'd be a lump of shame!"

"Don't pity me."

"Shit... I almost forgot not to say that, but I did anyways." the witch shrugged.

"Anyways! As usual I am here to take your books! What's new?"

"Take whatever." Patchouli said.

And then no one spoke for a while. They were too surprised to think of the right words. Koakuma gave Patchouli a look of pure concern until Patchouli shook her head.

"I will die in a few weeks. It's certain. I am officially on my death bed and I wouldn't be surprised at all if I were to be paralyzed tomorrow. " She spoke. Her voice didn't shake at all. "So the what would be the point of protecting these books then? You put them to great use, Marisa. I have seen you use spells out of the books you stole. So in this case you're the only person I would truly trust with them."

"Does that mean they're all mine?!"

"Give me 3,000 yen first."

Marisa almost lunged at her. "God damn it! That speech was for nothing!"

"That wasn't even a speech. Calm yourself or I'll call the maid in."

"Ok, damn it. Reimu I blame you." Marisa said.

"Blame ME? You were the one who wanted to steal! I just wanted to move around since the shrine gets so hot during Summer!"

"But you're in charge of keeping me in check. And who's not doing it...?"

"You aren't, Marisa. It's your job to keep yourself in check! Not mine! Why do you rely on me for so much stuff?! You're older than me anyways!"

As the two were fighting, Patchouli leaned over and told Koakuma to get the maid. The devil flew off in a hurry leaving the purple witch with the two rambling teenagers.

 _"Kids..."_ Patchouli grunted as she opened her book.

It wasn't long till Marisa threw a punch and the two got into a physical fight. Patchouli looked over to see the two wrestle and throw punches.

"You two need to calm down and control yourselves!" The older witch hollered. Doing so took so much energy out of her that she felt faint.

Sakuya Izayoi, the mansion's head maid was a lot older than the two heroines. She was more calm and collected, spending most of her time cleaning the mansion or making food for it's residents. She absolutely hated to be interrupted from her duties unless the emergency was that large. This, was not, and was in fact one of the most common instances she had to deal with. Though physical fights between the two was rare and she has never dealt with one before, making this a whole new experience.

Sakuya appeared as suddenly as she usually does and shivered watching the two friends throw kicks and punches. _"It's so messy I don't know who's who. Maybe I can have Meiling give these two martial arts lessons... Or I should break this up and pretend it never happened."_

"Listen you two! Stop at once!" Sakuya spoke. Then without warning she too was dragged into the fight. Patchouli felt like she could so simply pull her hair out as she was engulfed with rage. No one respected that the older witch was going to pass soon.

It went to the point where she started throwing books at the three, hoping to hit someone. It looked like complete chaos for normal people like us. To Koakuma it did, until another witch burst through the front door.

Seven-colored puppeteer Alice Margatroid walked up to the fight and kicked the living daylights out of the three humans. Clenching her teeth together, she muttered, "You three need to learn some respect. Even you Sakuya, who I would've never expected to act so out of character."

"I am terribly sorry..." Sakuya dipped her head in humiliation and guilt.

"Don't apologize to me. **Apologize to the person who is spending her final days of life suffering in this bed**. Apologize to the person who never had a good chance to see the world. Be grateful that you three even got to go on those dangerous adventures."

The three looked up at Patchouli and gave her a deep bow of respect.

"Thank you Alice." Patchouli dipped her head.

Remilia still sat at her throne; Flandre sat beside her but not as still. A door to the left opened, Koakuma emerging from it. Following her was Reimu, Marisa, and Sakuya, all culprits of the situation. Koakuma preceded to tell the scarlet devil the whole event with the vampire's face turning from bored to disappointed. Flandre waved at Marisa, oblivious to the incident.

"That was uncalled for. Clearly uncalled for." Remilia started. "This is something that's normal for you two, but my dear maid Sakuya..."

"Milady, if I could explain-"

"No explanation needed." Remilia ignored her. "What you did was foolish and unnecessary. I raised you better than this..."

"Raised?" Marisa interrupted.

"That is besides the point, _**rat**_." The vampire snapped. "All of you. Face the reality for once. My good friend Patchouli is going to die soon. Your good friend Patchouli will die soon."

"What if she isn't a friend?" Reimu snorted.

"At least show some respect to your elders, Hakurei."

"And show some respect for people who care for her as well! Such as me and miss Alice!" Koakuma added.

"No dinner provided by me for the next three days, Sakuya. A light punishment as you know, but the guilt will soon pummel down on you like a rainstorm you cannot avoid. At that moment you will feel the true pain of this. I hope you learn your lesson." Remilia said sternly.

"Yes mistress."

"And as for you two..." Remilia looked at the outsiders. "Get the hell out of my mansion."

"Fine. I was getting bored anyways." Reimu groaned as she walked out. Marisa however wasn't moving.

"Marisa?"

"I feel bad. May we take Sakuya with us?"

Sakuya twisted her body to the witch with a huge blush covering her face. "M-Marisa?!"

"Just for the night. She can hang out with us and we'll provide her food. Flandre can come along too if she so desires. So then you'd have time to be with your friend."

Almost out of no where that request was. Knowing Marisa, this was highly out of character for her, yet still seemed alright. She had a heart that she rarely shows and this was one of it's times.

"I don't see much of a problem with that... At least you two will be out of the mansion and away from Patchouli." Remilia muttered in agreement.

"Yay! Sleepover!" Flandre cheered as she floated off of the throne into Marisa's arms. "Say, what are we going to do miss Marisa?"

"Hee, we'll eat and play games probably."

"You are all coming to my shrine then. How is everyone thinking that this isn't a problem? I already am hosting an oni, an amanojaku, an inchling, a robot, and a vengeful spirit!" Reimu complained.

"For one, Sukuna doesn't take up much space and Ruukoto has been in the closest for 10 years. Mima is always sleeping and Seija doesn't want anything to do with you. The only people who really bother you on a daily basis are me an' Suika. The only other people you would have to tolerate tonight is a maid older and more mature than the two of us and the friendliest vampire of them all (in my opinion that is). This it really nothing to stress about!" Marisa explained.

"I guess you're right..."

"Off with you then. And Sakuya, your punishment will start once you come back. Do not avoid it." Remilia concluded.

The scarlet devil watched the four leave the mansion's grounds and off into the night. She stood there a little while longer, recollecting her thoughts.

 _"As quick as it seems life may go. It may come in any shape or form, yet nature will take it's place, and soon it will become plain like the rest of the snow."_

Remilia remembered bits of a poem that traced back far before she came to the mansion. Even if she had no memory from what happened before she did, that was the only figment that stayed with her. For now, the vampire decided to leave it be.

Remilia walked into the library. "Patchy. Are you still alive in here?"

…

"Very funny." Patchouli's soft tone echoed through the rows of books. The vampire grinned and headed her way.

"You're very fond of these books, Patchy. I'm glad you've enjoyed them. Honestly, if it wasn't for you I would have burned them all by now." Remilia said, arriving.

Patchouli gave her friend a welcoming smile and nod. "Now now Remi, that's not how you should treat books. These are precious things. Some hold knowledge from long before we were even a mere thought. A waste it would be to throw them away. So many life lessons can be learned."

"You certainly love your books." Remilia giggled. "Mind if I join you?"

"I haven't minded since we met." Patchouli scooted over and patted the spot next to her. Remilia sat down and gave a long sigh.

"It's almost as it were yesterday when we first met. I can remember that rainstorm in such a vivid manner like it's occurring at this very moment. I still have that umbrella in my room somewhere. I'd have to look for it though." The vampire laid down. "I cannot believe you're leaving so soon."

"Ah, but do not look at this as a grim departure. Sure, it isn't the best way to go, but nature must do it's thing to all of the living." Patchouli said comforting Remilia. "Magicians are not like other youkai either. We may be classified as so, but one trait that separates us from the rest is life span. I've met many great youkai who have lived for a few millennia and many magicians die off around a couple hundred years. From what I hear, I'm either dying from bad health or old age."

"Or both perhaps?" Remilia asked.

"Perhaps. Either way, I do not want you to worry about me. I'll still be here like always."

"I know that..."

The two youkai laid with each other for what felt like many years and fell asleep in each others arms.

The Hakurei shrine was busy on this night. The lights were on while everyone drunk sake in a joyful manner, celebrating their existence. It was a miniature party, but still a lively one. The oni Suika danced around the table and sung as the humans ate.

"Hey! Suika! Knock it off!" Reimu spat. "I can't hear myself think when you're singing such sad songs like that!"

"They aren't sad songs Rei." Suika babbled drunkenly. "They're songs about hope and new findings! It's what us oni sang when we were trapped underground for so long! And we still are..."

"I thought dem damn onis hated singing." Marisa boomed in.

"Well yer wrong in many ways! Us oni sing! Just the ones we make up though. And occasionally we'd take some from the tengu and make our own verses and versions. All us youkai love our music! Only if it belongs to us though! Hell, one time this oni was so drunk he started singing "kappa no uta", a song a kappa recently made up, and he got pummeled by everyone! It was absolutely hilarious!" Suika explained with a hearty laugh next to it.

Sakuya took another sip of her sake. "My goodness. It has been a while since I've drank so much in one evening..."

Flandre scooted near the four and rested her head on the table. She tugged at Sakuya's sleeve. "Miss Sakuya?"

"Yes little mistress?"

"May I have some of that too?"

Flandre pointed at the cup of sake Sakuya was holding.

"Hm, that would be a decision up to your sister."

"What is it though?"

"It's just alcohol! Nothing poisonous! Come on head maid! Give her a little taste!" Marisa chuckled. "She'll probably think it's too bitter anyways!"

"I won't! I promise I'll like it!" Flandre claimed and started shifting around.

The head maid let out a sigh and took another cup, pouring a small amount of sake inside it and handed it to the vampire. Flandre stared at the liquid. It looked clear like water but smelled like flowers and random incense. She saw Sakuya's reflection in the cup and gasped.

"Are you going to try it little mistress?"

With that the vampire took a huge gulp, surprising the maid. She then scrunched her face up and shook her head.

"It's so bitter! It burns too!"

"Ah you'll get use to it once you drink it more. It tastes like flowers."

"How does it taste like flowers to you, Marisa? Have you been _eating_ them?" Reimu asked, disgusted. "In my opinion, it has a fruity flavor to it. Not the whole drink, but sometimes it tastes like a peach or a melon depending on what type."

"That's what I mean!" Marisa growled.

The drinking seemed to last for hours until most were passed out on the floor, except the maid and the witch who both sat outside to look at the moon. The full moon. Marisa still held a cup of sake in her hands and so did the maid, but instead they drunk a lighter liquor that was not as strong as the one they had earlier.

The witch stretched. "Maybe we should've gave Flandre this. She could have tolerated it more. It's too light for me."

"Tastes like water in fact." Sakuya replied taking small savoring sips of hers. "The moon looks divine though. I love sipping light sake under the full moon. It gives me a sense of relaxation and safety."

"But you don't do it anymore...?"

"No. Not really. I use to with Meiling, however, we don't get along as much as we use to."

"Ah..." Marisa took another sip. "I'm good with mending relationship problems. If you need me to come by and do some matchmaking work then come find me."

"You let yourself in anyways. I'd just need to look around the mansion." Sakuya joked.

Marisa gave out a laugh and a sigh and pat Sakuya on the back.

…

"Hey Sakuya?"

The gray-haired maid turned her head to the smiling witch. "Y-Yes Marisa?"

"I've wondered this since I first met you, but where do you come from?"

"Not even I remember. I've been here for so long that those memories must have slipped my mind." Sakuya said. "The mistress may know."

"Yeah but she never tells me!" Marisa complained. "I asked her before and all she gave me was a devilish grin and the silent treatment! That girl gets stranger every day..."

"I do remember my childhood there." Sakuya started. "Miss Patchouli was like my teacher. She taught me how to read, how to write, and other basics. Miss Koakuma was like her, but she taught me more about being a maid and my duties. Meiling..."

...

"Huh? Meiling, what?"

Sakuya shook her head and looked back at the witch.

"H-H-Huh?"

"Meiling, what? You mentioned her name and then paused? What about her?"

Sakuya gazed at Marisa for a moment and forced a laugh. "Nevermind. Nevermind. I believe it is time for us to go to sleep."

"It is? It's too early!"

"Marisa. Its one in the morning. We should get a good nights rest for the next day." Sakuya said.

"Stop preachin' me." Marisa grumbled and got on her broom. "I'm going back to my house this time. Reimu would get pissed if I stayed here again four times in a row. See ya."

And with that the witch flew away, leaving Sakuya outside. The maid rubbed her eyes and looked at the moon again.

 _"That's odd... Staring at the moon like this and having a sense of safety and security..."_ She thought before shaking off her thoughts. _"No no Sakuya! Why would you think that about the moon? You're being silly..."_

"K-K...I...O...H...S..."

Sakuya turned to see Flandre mumbling in her sleep.

 _"I should get some rest as well. I'll think of this another time."_

When the sky's hue of gold is finally shown, the maid carried the smaller vampire back to the Scarlet Devil Mansion.

Remilia Scarlet stared out the window again and watched the two girls arrive. _"That poem I thought of last night. Where did I get that from?"_ She thought.

 _"Probably doesn't matter much. It's possible I could have thought it up on a sudden note."_

She stood in the same position long enough for Sakuya to make it down the hallway and to her. Remilia gave her a polite nod to carry on and she did so. The scarlet devil peeked out the window again to see that rabbit come inside. The same one who has been checking up on Patchouli for this long while.

 _"Waste of time my ass."_ Remilia sneered and flew down the halls to the library. "That damn rabbit..."

Koakuma stopped her before she could open the doors.

"That's no good miss Scarlet."

"What the hell is _she_ doing here then?!" Remilia growled. "We already know the outcome! If I can't change it then neither can she!"

"You're overreacting miss Scarlet! Reisen promised to keep checking on lady Patchouli until she dies!"

"I never heard such a thing from that bastard. Now move out of the way."

Koakuma shook her head. "I told the woman I'd stay out here until she's done. Even if I am in the presence of you..."

Remilia grunted and gave Koakuma a smack to the face, just to move her. She opened the doors and went along. _"Fools like you are making unnecessary drama..."_

She vampire then ran into the rabbit. Making a weary face, "I thought when you said that last time that it would be your last time you told the truth? I guess not. What are you doing here?"

"My master told me to check up on her one last time." She replied. "And surprisingly she's fine."

"Excuse me?"

"I checked her again, and it almost looks as if the disease has never happened. I will be leaving now." The rabbit girl bowed and walked away.

Remilia was in shock from what just happened. She had no idea what she was feeling at the moment. Relief? Happiness? Confusion? Stress? What was the word for that though?

"Patchouli! What is the meaning of this?!" Remilia roared in anger as she strode into the witch's point of view.

Patchouli turned to her friend and gave her a smile. A smile that Remilia has never seen before. It was almost frightening and chilling to the bone.

"Hello, Remi."

"Is this some kind of sick joke?!"

"Actually, the strangest thing happened to me last night that I can't seem to explain. You were asleep and I found a book under my arms that I never heard of or picked up so I decided to read it. So I turned to the first page and the next second it was black. I woke up like this." Patchouli said. "Let's just pretend this never happened... Shall we?"


	2. The Rainy Place

**Three Months Ago**

It was a sunny day outside apart from the clouds threatening to take over. This is what the tengu said: Gensokyo will be hit with a nasty rainstorm today. However most were never informed this. Today was they day where Flandre would venture out of the mansion's grounds for the first time and it wasn't possible to change it.

Outside some of them were excluding the fairy maids. Flandre wore her usual attire but with the exception of the sunhat and the parasol she held. It was Remilia's, but the scarlet devil forgot to get one for her sister the day before as was planned. So instead she hesitantly gave her's to Flandre and decided to get a new one later. Flandre looked a lot more mature than she usually does holding it so, like a miniature Remilia.

"You look divine, little mistress." Sakuya complemented.

"Amazing!" Meiling added.

All Patchouli could do was give her a thin smile, but it still meant a lot.

Remilia could stand out in the sun without her parasol for only a few minutes. With Flandre using the only one, she had to. But she didn't care. All she wanted was to see her sister off as for this was once again, an important moment for her and everyone at the mansion.

"Flandre. To see you so grown up like this, I-"

"Milady! Your wings!"

Remilia looked over and saw that her wings were almost engulfed in flames.

"Thank you sister!"

"Y-YEAH! HAVE A GOOD TIME!" Remilia gave her a quick hug and screeched as she dashed back into the mansion, Sakuya following her.

Patchouli walked up to Flandre and gave her a hug. "Now you remember to be careful and watch yourself out there. It's a beautiful yet dangerous world to explore. Youkai and even humans can jump out and do anything to you if you don't prepare yourself."

Flandre gave her a goofy smile. "I'll be alright! If someone tries to attack me, I can just fight back like normal right?"

That sentence sent chills down Patchouli's spine, then she added: "But don't go all out! B-Because they might be weaker than you!"

A paper airplane flew from one of the many windows of the mansion and landed on Meiling's hat. She took the paper and unfolded it, revealing a list of warnings scribbled down by Remilia. It had to go to Flandre but instead she groaned and tossed it to her side.

"Meiling would you like to say something?"

"Ah, our little Flandre has headed off already. I am too late."

"Huh?!"

The little vampire had walked away from the three of them. She was already way far ahead. Too far to hear the "goodbyes!" from the group. She couldn't even care to hear them anyways. Now that she was finally out in the open, she could see what Gensokyo truly looked like.

 **.**

A lake full of mist surrounded the mansion entirely making it look like it resided on a separate island. From the basement you can't see much of the geography except thickening mist. The window though is very close to the lake itself, so if possible it can be seen. Flandre was surprised and scared by the large amount of mist and wondered how she could ever fly through it. Shaking those fears away, she shot into the mist. She was lost as soon as she was within it. Every where she turned was just mist and water. No one to help her out of this maze until she thought she spotted a pair of blue wings in front of her.

"Hello? Is anyone there?"

…

The vampire thought she heard it call back, and tried yelling again.

"I'm lost in here! Where are you?!"

"Behind you. Stop screamin'."

Flandre almost dropped her parasol when she heard a literal chilling voice behind her. The girl's breath was as cold as ice and even the air around the two felt a lot more frozen and draft than when she came in. "D-Did the temperature just drop?"

"Beats me. It's always cold in here. Now turn around so I can see ya." She commanded.

Flandre spun around quickly. The girl had similar body structure but she was undoubtedly taller. To estimate, probably as tall as Remilia. She wore a blue dress and a blue ribbon on her light blue hair and the poor vampire knew she was going to get sick of the color blue if she hung around this person any longer.

"Yo. Who the heck are you?"

"M-My name is Flandre... Flandre Scarlet! The vampire." Flandre stuttered.

The girl cocked her head to the right. "Huh. A vampire eh? What about those creepy wings you have there?"

Flandre's wings were odd compared to others of her kind. Instead of being normal bat wings, the forearms of the wings looked like brown sticks which were crooked and curved like a dead tree branch. The membrane parts were not there and were replaced with what seemed like multi-colored crystals that glowed light, almost as if they stored any kind of power. Usually these would throw someone off guard and make them question it.

"I'm sorry if it scared you!" Flandre apologized and retracted her wings (which doesn't work for her).

"No it didn't! Actually they looks _cool_!" The girl then started laughing. "Ha! Ice pun!"

Flandre chuckled a little. "What's your name?"

"The name's Cirno and I'm the strongest!" She boasted. "This lake is my territory! Anyone who crosses it must have a battle with me!"

"Ahh! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! It'll never happen again! I don't want to fight the strongest!"

Cirno glanced down at the vampire and saw the fear in her eyes then felt a hint remorse for saying her usual phrase. She always greets people like this but has never received this kind of feedback.

"Fine. I'll spare your soul."

The mist started to become thicker. The wind picked up as well which stirred it around until absolutely no light got through. Now it was dark as night.

"Watch this." The fairy said.

With all that, she conjured up a huge amount of cold air, sucking it in to her arms. The vampire shivered when the temperature around them dropped once again. Releasing the air, even if it was invisible the mist was retreating. The cold air Cirno made was used to blow the mist away from the area. Now there was only the water and the two girls. No mist. Not much of an exciting trick, but Flandre has never seen such a thing before. She was outright amazed.

"Whoa!" Flandre smiled with delight and clapped. "That was amazing miss Cirno! You truly are the strongest!"

"Hee hee, it was nothin'!" Cirno said and puffed out her chest.

The two of them crossed the lake and then sat down underneath a tree nearby. They faced the mansion. Cirno laid back and stretched her arms out while Flandre carefully sat herself down and hugged both of her knees, setting the parasol down beside her. She had to get comfortable with the grass as well.

"So, what's the umbrella for?"

"Oh, this?" She held up the parasol. Cirno nodded. "Oh! It's my sisters! She's letting me barrow it for the day. It's my first time out here..."

Cirno almost immediately sat up and jerked her head to Flandre in shock. "Your FIRST time?! Are you kidding me?!"

"For many years I have been locked in that mansion's basement." Flandre pointed to the dark red mansion in front of them. "Today is the first day I may come out and go around as I please. May you tell me a little about this place? I've heard stories from miss Marisa but that's all."

"Marisa? Huh, I know her. Guess it really is a small world." Cirno laid back again, this time setting her hands behind her head. "Um, well this place is Gensokyo. A small world I'd say with Gods and monsters and humans coexisting, except humans tend to run away from us. I'm a fairy and we're usually the majority of youkai around here. Then again, most of us are weak, except for me, but all of us would regenerate anyways. We over populate the place. You have the animal-based youkai below us. Oh yeah, there are plenty of them around these areas. However the more North you go the less you may see us. North is that-a-way."

Cirno pointed to her right.

"My theory is that the stronger youkai are hangin' about those areas. We kinda claimed ours as well. Over there is the Netherworld and youkai mountain. The Netherworld is for ghosts and phantoms while the tengu went ahead and claimed youkai mountain. The mountain ain't all about tengu though. It ranges from kappa to Gods. And if you go even further North you'll run into this temple with a random assortment of youkai. Next to it is a temple for saints. They're pretty nice folks in my opinion. If you go even farther North you'll run into this creepy upside down castle..."

"Down South doesn't have much stuff to it. Mostly it's the human village and lots of flat land. If you head East however, you'll run into the Hakurei Shrine. But either way you'll run into friendly faces no matter."

"You're very informative miss Cirno!" Flandre said.

"Ehe, I got that all from my friend Letty. I can't make things up THAT fast." Cirno chuckled.

"How big is Gensokyo exactly? My sister says it's not that large. Is it really a small world like you say?"

"It's certainly massive for a fairy or a human. It ain't too massive for an explorer though. Once you're out here for long enough you may become sick of it. I wouldn't say it's too small however. It's at least decent. The 'Gensokyo' part is pretty tiny, but if you add the Netherworld, Hell, Heaven, Makai, and a few other places (which are sort of their own thing), then you can surely say that this place is pretty damn big. I've been to all those places actually so this time I ain't copyin' Letty."

"If you're out for the first time, there's a lot to explore. You may go wherever best suits you as well. I'd recommend headin' North."

Flandre stood up from her position prompting Cirno to look up. "Eh? Leaving already?"

The vampire gave her a nod. "I'll promise to come back and play!"

Cirno giggled. "Sure! I'll have to introduce you to some of my friends!"

Flandre turned around after their goodbyes and headed North, just like the ice fairy told her to.

The sun was at it's highest. It was certainly noon by now and Flandre was sweating tiny bits from the amount of walking she's done. It's way more than she usually does, but she's too afraid to start flying with the parasol or it could fall out of her hands. Then if she stopped she wouldn't have any more energy to keep going.

Believing she'd be walking any longer she arrived shortly near an area of sand and water. It was unusual to see so many bodies of water in Gensokyo, however she managed to find one of them, a wide and blue river that stretched for miles. A deep, dark, and urging river that dared anyone to jump into it's depths and never return.

Nearby she noticed a worn-out boat set on the edge of the bank tied to a log. The current splashed against it's sides. Also it looked unstable. She saw a woman too beside the boat holding a ragged scythe, laying in a similar position that Cirno was in when at rest. The sun was too bright at the moment so it was difficult to see any facial details, but Flandre did notice her hair. Dark strawberry-colored hair tied in two... Probably two pigtails on the sides.s Every other feature besides this was unidentifiable.

Flandre felt too anxious to approach her, so she decided to head a different path.

"Suns too bright for ya, little vamp?"

Just before she could, the woman's voice called out to her, triggering a squeak. Flandre turned around to head the other way.

"Honestly it isn't too bright for a small vampire like you. It could make you sweat at most, but not something too outrageous like getting' your wings caught on fire. Now that is just called bad luck." The woman turned her head a little when she noticed Flandre approaching. "Ah. So she has finally decided to take a step out of her shadow. Come sit."

Flandre took a seat down next to her, but not too close.

"It must be cool over there, but I like the heat better. My boss always has the air conditioning on in her office 24/7 during Summer. It annoys the hell out of me when she let's it get too cold."

"M-May I ask your name?"

"Komachi Onozuka." She said and shook the little vampire's hand. "And all I know about you is that this place is a fresh feeling right now in your mind. Something new."

"A-Are you a fortune teller?!"

"Nah. That would be weird, but I could try. Then I'd have to quit my job and pick up a Caribbean or a Cajun accent. I like the job I have now."

The two were close to the river so the water kept hitting the sandy surface. Once it hit Flandre, she squeaked and scooted upwards.

"T-The waters cold!" She shuddered.

"Aren't you vampires allergic to water?" Komachi asked.

"Only if it's running. Although my sister says it only damages your ability to fly..." She sighed, "But she could just be protecting me. She worries too much."

The current of the river picked up enough to where the shinigami's boat started to drift offshore. Somehow like it was a pet, it managed to get loose from the rope which was tied to the yard and began moving along with the current. Komachi didn't notice.

"Say, who _is_ your sister?"

"I'm property of the Scarlet Devil Mansion! My sister is Remilia Scarlet."

" _Ohh..._ It may just be me, but you do look a lot like this one vampire I met a while back..."

Flandre started drawing figures in the sand. "My sister? I don't look too much like her. Especially hair wise...". She drew a little portrait of Remilia with wings and everything. Even the hairstyle was correct to an extent.

Komachi grinned. "Oh yes. A lot like your sister. It wasn't too long ago either and it was before I started taking my work more seriously. She caught my eye while taking an evening walk when I was on it's exact same pathway. I waved hello though she didn't answer, but growled at me instead."

The little vampire gasped. "That isn't like my sister at all!"

"But like I said, it could just be me. My boss says that vampires are no good and impure like Lunarians. I haven't met one but I've heard nasty rumors about them. There are actually a couple of them hanging around in the bamboo forest." Komachi said.

"Tell me, what is a Lunarian?" Flandre asked with interest. She has never heard of them before; not even from her sister.

"Hm. How would one explain a certain species? All I can say is that it's hard to tell a human and a Lunarian apart. My boss says they claim that we're the impure and evil ones when they are usually the ones with such thoughts." The shinigami lifted her head towards the sky. "She says that they wouldn't dare show it, but secretly each one carries at least one nasty and sinful thought that never gets attended to. And they know it. But it's scary. It scares me. They planned to kill us. To destroy the world because of how 'impure' we are when they are just the same. Lunarians and humans aren't even that different now that I think about it. They believe they're all high and mighty due to their power when in reality they're just cocky hypocrites that want to rid civilization for it's sins."

The thought scared Flandre as well. Why hasn't her sister told her this? Has the scarlet devil been lying to her this whole time?

"But we shouldn't worry anymore, I hope. They have other things to do now, I hope." She concluded.

"That's good." Flandre sighed. She noticed Komachi's boat floating down the current. "Um, miss Komachi? Is that yours?"

In a panic, Komachi quickly stood straight up and ran like hell to retrieve her boat. In the meantime, Flandre stood up and kept heading North.

The number of dark clouds started to block up the sun about an hour later. Flandre was walking down a muddy path clutching the parasol tight until she came across a few signs in the middle of the road. The road split off into two other sections to where there was a left, middle, and right with each sign pointing to one of the three possible paths.

 **Left:** "A big Mountain."

 **Right:** "This sunflower field."

 **Straight:** "How would I know? Find out yourself bub!"

"I wonder what happens when I go straight..." Flandre wondered. She then chose to go right instead since she at least knew where it would take her, unless the person who wrote the signs was a liar. I mean, it just doesn't seem that trustworthy right?

From the road split it took exactly ten minutes for her to reach the field. She was utterly amazed by the flower's beauty as they stretched higher than most structures can. They were bright and absolutely vivid as she stepped into the fields, though at the same time she was afraid of getting lost after encountering the mist around the mansion's lake. She somehow though managed to walk through a clearing which allowed her to see the sky, and it looked like rain.

She sensed someone's presence nearby and quickly shot around to see who it was. When she did there was no one to greet her except the wind. Then the sound of what was thought to be footsteps arose behind her.

A woman who held a parasol strolled up to the vampire in a calm and charismatic fashion and gently set her hand on the vampire's shoulder. Flandre without thought turned up to this lady who wore a look of concern and interest.

"A-Are you lost?" Were the only words she could say before Flandre bolted out of her sight.

 **.**

Flandre didn't care much about the parasol anymore and just flew away as fast as she could. It wasn't sunny anymore, so that was definitely fine until there was a crackle, a boom, and water pounding down on top of her. She screamed in pain. It didn't just affect her flying, but it actually hurt her to. Another thing her sister never told her,

Eventually she got use to the burns a little and kept on flying at full speed and in an uneven pace, just wanting to get away from the lady. That face scared her and was burned in her mind forever she thought. Just thinking for a second took her off track and now she was flying in many different directions.

Her frantic pace slowed down when she started flying through deep bamboo thickets. Suddenly it became colder and darker just like the misty lake was. Flandre was at the point where she couldn't fly anymore and stopped right away once she felt faint. She fell and hit the ground hard as the rain pattered against her skin. It didn't burn much anymore, but the poor vampire was exhausted.

She put her hand to her left arm and shivered. It was wet, but not with water nor mud. Retracting it back she found her right hand covered with blood. Right then she realized that she was injured with no one to help her. It didn't help that there _was_ mist which made Flandre groan with disgust.

Right then a youkai came out of the thickets and growled. "Oh great. _Another_ one."

"Another what?" She asked.

The youkai turned away for a second before walking hesitantly towards Flandre. They appeared to be in a wolf-like form with brown fur and red eyes. Also wearing some kind of gem on their neck. The brown wolf then started circling Flandre like she was it's prey. Licking their lips, they started saying: "I've had enough of your kind. Thinking that you can be the all-powerful-saviors of Gensokyo and bully us? WE were the first ones here and thanks to us you can all exist properly!"

The youkai sat in place and stared directly at Flandre like they were about to attack. "It's called balance. Something you don't know."

Flandre carefully sat herself up to where she faced the wolf eye to eye. "I-I don't know what you're talking about. Whoever you're referring to is not me! This is my first time outside!"

"Enough of your lying! I see it all over your face. Stop using innocence to hide the fact that my grandfather is dead! This is what you youkai always do! Bully the weak. When something is not right in Gensokyo you send the Hakurei shrine maiden our way to taunt us when we have nothing to do with the problem at hand. You sit there and ignore us when violence isn't the answer. If I were you I'd-"

Flandre shook her head frantically. "Stop! I didn't do anything! I don't know anything about your late grandfather or anything you've just mentioned!"

…

"And Reimu is nice! Well to me at least... But she'd like you as well if you got to know her!"

The wolf managed to enter an even more enraged state then they just were in and started violently jerking their body around as if they were attempting to shake off flees. After their moment of insanity, the wolf calmed down and gave the vampire a chilling answer.

"You have no clue how offended I am. You've met her? Have you even known how many lives she has destroyed and shaken off like it meant nothing to her? All these damn youkai follow her; the able ones adore and cherish her. You're looking all at your side of the problem since she's been so nice and loving to your folks. Well thanks to her I have no folks. Now I'm surprised I found one of you in a place like this. At your weakest and near death. I could tear you up in an instant if I wanted to. And boy, do I _want_ to do that..."

The wolf laughed sadistically. "This'll be easy."

Just as they were about to pounce, they were kicked to the side following a yelp from the convict. The aggressive youkai got up again to face the offender until it gave them another kick to the nose, breaking it. The wolf had no choice but to turn to their humanoid form, and once they did it was clear that they were female. Blood dripped from her nose while her face was covered with it.

"Oh hello. I am quite surprised you've joined us knowing that being out in public again will get you killed? Repeatedly if you can't be huh?" She said. "How about you go home and beg to your dead father to take you back huh? You'd be out of Gensokyo and away from har-"

The werewolf was cut off in mid sentence by a kick to the stomach which sent her into one of the thousands of bamboo stalks occupying the area. The impact against it was so hard, that the stem gave away at that very instant and slumped over, almost crushing the woman to death.

It all unfolded in front of the poor, poor Flandre Scarlet who thought today was going to be amazing. Instead she harbored a new fear of mist, Lunarians, and who ever that lady was in the field. Now she had just watched someone beat her offender who was almost crushed by the thin bamboo stalk. Also the fact that she would've been killed if it wasn't for this person.

The new woman looked over her shoulder to see Flandre before the wolf youkai managed to shove the bamboo stalk off of her.

"Why you-!"

"I wouldn't talk if I were you seeing the condition you're in." Said the mystery lady. From Flandre's perspective, she couldn't see much, but she could make out baggy pants and white hair tied with ribbons. An overall confusing and random appearance. Her voice sounded harsh, rough, and ragged.

She continued: "So tell me, miss Imaizumi, how come you're attacking a girl who had nothing to do with what happened? Is it out of pure rage or is there an exact purpose for it?"

"This has nothing to do with you, phoenix. How about you go on with your business for once instead of barging into the situation?" The werewolf snapped.

"I tend to barge into these a lot. I wouldn't say I'm the hero people expect me to be, but I do know what's right and what's wrong. Killing a little girl? In my opinion, that is heinous and outright scandalous. Dear, what would miss Wakasagi say if she were to see you doing such a thing? Horrified I bet. So it does have at least something to do with me. And don't even think of trying to attack again since I'm on her side. Deal?"

The wolf growled but then seemed to accept her defeat.

"That's a good girl. Now how about you walk away and go about your da-"

 **BONK!**

A hit right to the head knocked the phoenix out. When blood started to leak out, it was then when Flandre got up and ran as fast as she could without any energy left to keep her going. It was pure fear she was facing and it didn't feel good at all.

 _"She killed her! That wolf killed her! What do I do now?!"_ Flandre's mind was going mad.

 _"It's all my fault! I should've done something! I should've done something but I didn't! It's all my fault!"_ She kept repeating as her tiny feet crashed into every puddle that was made by the showers. On and on she went deeper and deeper into the forest until her silhouette was no more, and she disappeared into the broad and dark forest.

The rain has been increasing and decreasing at strange and uncommon rates for the past thirty minutes or so. It sounded quite relaxing against the bamboo, almost like a sad song which the bamboo was singing. The ground around the area remained dry as the bamboo soaked up most of the water. Perhaps, or maybe the ground was blessed with the ability to not have water touch it.

It was certainly dark enough for rarer youkai to start roaming around. They had no sense of time and only came out to hunt around midnight which is how dim it became. It is only about three o'clock. Werewolves are very uncommon youkai in Gensokyo who only feel like coming out at night. The humans despise them despite only being half youkai, though in their world that was the greatest sin of them all. Werewolves tend to never show their faces in society and it is probably for the better anyway.

The sister of the scarlet devil hid inside a rocky tunnel deep in the thickets. She was cold, scared, lonely, and hurt. Not even the soft sounds of the rain soothed her. It made it worse. All she could do was curl up in a ball to warm herself and cry. She didn't care anymore if anyone found her here or not. It'd be hopeless either way. The small vampire thought this as the cave echoed with someone approaching. Surprisingly, it was that same weird-looking mystery woman from earlier who Flandre thought for a fact was dead.

"You're alive?"

"It's gonna take a lot more than that to kill me."

Flandre sighed with relief and felt more relaxed now that she was found by someone nice.

"Thank you for saving me back there!" She thanked the woman.

"Ehe, it was nothing really."

Flandre got a closer look at the woman now. Her eyes were a dark shade of pink while her choice of color was mostly red and white. She wore brown boots and her pants were _very_ puffy. She had a very friendly smile and her voice sounded very soft now compared to earlier.

"I'm guessing you're lost? I'm Fujiwara no Mokou and I usually help you kinds of people get around this forest. I'm the only one who knows the ways around."

"In a forest this big?! How?"

The woman forced a laugh. "I've been here for a while. I'm an old lady in other words."

Flandre cocked her head to the side in confusion. "You don't look old though. You look very pretty!"  
Those words made the phoenix blush a little. "Aw, sweetie you're makin' me blush..."

Just then the duo heard another **CRACKLE! BOOM!** And Mokou jumped a couple inches.

"Are you scared of thunder miss Mokou?"

"Hell no! Thunder can't scare me!"

 **BOOM!**

"WAH! MAYBE A LITTLE! LET'S GET YOU OUTTA HERE!"

She then quickly led Flandre out of the cave and headed a certain direction. A familiar one.

 **.**

"Where are we going?"

Mokou and Flandre walked through the forest. Flandre wondered where they were going since they started since the woman refused to tell her.

"A place I often visit when I get bored, which is all the time. They're nice folks and will help you out when you need it at most. Take it from me." She grinned and flashed her teeth.

With that they arrived at what looked like a Japanese-styled mansion. An expanded Shinto shrine almost. The two opened the gates and walked to the front doors. But before Mokou could open the doors she stopped and turned to Flandre with a concerned look on her face.

"Listen. I may seem like a nice gal now, but once I open these doors I'll be like a totally different person. And this place might get a little too chaotic but you'll be fine. Ok?"

Flandre was hesitant to respond. "O-Ok..."

"You sure? I can take you somewhere else if you're uncomfortable."

"N-No! I'll be ok. Besides, you took your time to get me here..."

Mokou gave her a small grin. "Alright alrighty then. Here we go!"

She then kicked the doors open, jumped inside and screamed: **"TERUYO! COME AND GET ME YA LAZY BUM!"** Then she made the most awkward defense pose and held out what seemed to be roleplaying cards.

A second later another woman with black hair jumped out and went into a similar pose carrying the same cards and dice screaming: **"YOU AREN'T GETTING AWAY THIS TIME! I WILL ROLL IMMUNITY!"**

The black-haired girl then threw out the dice. One landed on a three and the other a one. The lady screamed.

 **"NOO! HOW COULD MY AMAZING PLAN BACKFIRE SO HORRIBLY?!"**

"My turn now!" Mokou then dashed for the dice and threw them so hard to the floor that it was unimaginable how it even held up. On impact they bounced off the ground and off the walls until finally settling down on a six and a four.

 **"I WILL NOW PULL MY SOUL CARD WHICH ALLOWS ME TO TAKE ONE OF YOUR CARDS!"** Mokou roared with delight and shot right to the other woman, swiping a card right out of her hands. When she looked at it though she started to giggle like crazy, but it didn't seem like a good thing. She turned around to Flandre and showed the vampire that she pulled a joker card. Turning back around, the other woman showed Mokou that every card she held were joker cards.

"Silly Mokou. You should've known that I was going to throw my turn to let you waste yours. It's all totally me you know?" The woman laughed.

"Pfft. I'll get you next time princess. You'll see!"

The princess looked over Mokou's shoulder. "Ah! Do we have a guest?"

"Yup. This is-! Er... I believe she hasn't told me her name..."

"Flandre Scarlet."

"Oh! A Scarlet!" The princess preceded to walk over to her. "I met your sister once during an incident! Boy she was strong but funny too! I've heard so much about you!"

"Y-You know my sister?"

The princess nodded. "Oh Eirin! We have guests!"

A very tall lady stepped out from one of the hallways and headed towards the three. She looked older than them and had a very condescending aura around her, but Flandre didn't feel too frightened by the woman's appearance.

"This is Eirin and Kaguya. I've known these two bastards for a very long time."

"Now miss Mokou, that isn't a proper introduction now is it?" Eirin said sternly.

"Ah Eirin! This is Flandre! She says that shes the sister of Remilia Scarlet. Remember her?" Kaguya explained.

Eirin nodded silently. "I do indeed remember her mentioning you, but my golly that was a long time ago it seems... Well then, hello Flandre. I am Eirin Yagokoro. I create medicine and protect the princess."

"And I'm Kaguya Houraisan, THE princess."

They both bow. Mokou does to but not as well as her peers.

"A princess? You still call yourself that despite getting exiled from the moon?" Mokou then questioned. "You know what? I'm starting to think calling you a princess isn't even that fitting anymore."

Kaguya groaned. "What do you mean by that Mokou?"

"I think calling you a brat is more fitting than anything!"

"What! You take that back you-!... You-!"

Mokou then stuck out her tongue like a child and dashed down the hallway, calling, "What is it ya BRAT?! Can't say nothing because it's sooo true?"

"No! Get back here!" Kaguya barked and chased after her.

Eirin stared as the two shot playful insults back and fourth at one another. She looked back at Flandre. "Don't mind those two. They're always this playful with each other when ever they're in the same room. It's just a sign of affection." She smiled.

Eirin noticed the cut on Flandre's left arm. "Oh dear you're hurt! Come with me please."

Flandre walked down the hallway with Eirin, leaving the other two to bicker with each other.

 **.**

Eirin showed Flandre to a room which was dimly lit by candles. It was an older room compared to how new the designs looked when they walked in. She couldn't see the walls.

"The room was always lit by a lightblub like the others until one day it went out. I'm terribly sorry. We haven't sold much medicine lately so we couldn't get the kind of bulbs we usually get. They're very expensive." Eirin explained. "But for now these candles will do. This is the only room experiencing this problem so I had to move some of the equipment out of it. Please wait a moment while I get some of it."

Eirin then left the room. Flandre was left looking around the space and she noticed the posters nailed up in every direction with the exception of a stained window. There was no place to sit so Flandre had to keep standing. She looked closely at one of the posters which read: **"** _July 9_ _th_ _, 1986. Today the sun took longer to come up compared to yesterday. It looked different too as it had more of an orange hue than it usually would at dawn. Perhaps this is another incident?_ **"** and so on.

The vampire couldn't read the rest because it was burnt and torn off. Before she could question who wrote it, Eirin came in with a small cart which held bandages, rubbing alcohol, a syringe, and towels. She also brought in a stool for the vampire to sit on.

"The supplies has also gone down as well. Much of the stock has depleted during an incident where youkai and humans were falling ill left and right. Do you remember that?"

"Never heard about it. Not much news gets around where I live."

"You live in a mansion do you?" Eirin asked as she started applying rubbing alcohol to Flandre's wound causing the vampire to wince "Does that hurt?"

"We do, but a very old mansion. My sister told me that it was already like that when we got there. Although I cannot remember much before what she calls 'the scarlet mist incident'. And no, I'm just not use to the stinging." She answers and briefly peeked at her swollen arm. "You don't have to do this. My sister says that vampires heal fast."

Eirin shook her head. "Anyone can still get infections and those take long for any monster to heal. Even a Lunarian can get one and it'll hurt like hell."

"Oh! I heard from this one woman today that Lunarians are evil. Do you happen to know any miss Eirin?" The vampire asked curiously.

The doctor took a while to answer. "...Mhm. I've known quite a few. They're very bad people." She kept working on Flandre's arm, now applying some sort of cream to it. "I've cut off relations with them a long time ago so I could take care of the princess. She's my top priority."

Even in another room the two could still hear bits and pieces of Mokou and Kaguya's argument. Something about fruit.

"May I ask why miss Mokou and miss Kaguya fight?"

Eirin let out a lengthy sigh and replied, "It's more of a long and sad story depending on the listener and the speaker. Would you like to know?" She asked as she got out a syringe. She replaced the needle and inserted some clear fluid into it. The process looked very unsanitary.

"I don't mind. Besides, the rain doesn't look like it'll go away anytime soon..."

She was right. The rain has increased even more since she came to the mansion, and Flandre was worried that she'd have to stay the night. Rotary dial telephones have just been imported to Gensokyo but not everyone has one. The Scarlet Devil Mansion does, but that was the only possible way of contact.

Eirin took a deep breath and began to tell a shorter version of Kaguya's story.

"Centuries ago, the princess was left with two choices. To either marry one of her suitors, or leave the city immediately. When she decided that the best choice was to marry, the many men of the town gathered around and began asking her for her hand in marriage. Upon the dozens of men, there was one who caught her eye out of them all. His name was Fujiwara no Fuhito."

Eirin gave Flandre the shot. The vampire yelped since this was the first time she has ever gotten one.

"He was the man who has never given up trying to woo her while the others did give up eventually. He ever so longed for her and talked to her whenever he got the chance even at the most inappropriate of times. The princess described him as being very kind and charming and she to eventually fell for him, but she knew deep in her heart that she could never love him."

She paused and waited for a reaction from Flandre, but the vampire only stared with interest.

"Why did you stop?"

"Just thought you'd say something by now."

"I'm just listening."

The doctor moved a hair out of her way and kept quiet for a moment. Something in her mind told her that she wasn't telling the story right, but the doctor shook it off and kept going.

"Fujiwara had four sons and five daughters. History says that there were four, but that is not true. The fifth daughter was erased from time somehow, and she is that phoenix with the princess right at this moment."

Eirin looked towards the wall which separated them and the other two, almost like she stared directly at Kaguya.

"The princess couldn't do anything to stop Fuhito, so instead she sent him and a few of her other suitors on a quest. She named it 'The Five Impossible Requests'. It was for the men to obtain the items that she already had in her possession. The items were the begging bowl of Buddha made from stone. A jeweled branch from the island of Mount Hourai. The legendary fire-rat robe from China. A beautifully colored jewel from the neck of a dragon. And finally, the cowry treasure of the swallows. These may have seemed like difficult and impossible tasks hence the name, yet the men wanted to win the princess over regardless, as many have come from far away lands to see such beauty."

"Sadly, they all perished on the way. News of this spread all around the nearby areas and Mokou was devastated that such a thing had happened to her father."

Flandre tilted her head to the side in confusion. "Is that why they hate each other? The two still seem quite friendly to one another though..."

"Over time minds have changed. We still don't know what changed that phoenix's mind. Perhaps just a simple change of heart?" Eirin wondered. "Anyway, that was the story. I didn't go into that deep of detail or I would've lost my train of thought."

She then finished bandaging up Flandre's arm like she was when she spoke. It was silent until Flandre decided to break it.

"Does miss Mokou have a crush on miss Kaguya?"

Eirin then tilted her head and looked up towards the ceiling. "I have never seen two girls fall in love, however I am not against it and I wouldn't be surprised if that were the case. I'd say they're perfect for each other and would keep each other company over the years to come. But we shouldn't ask her that or this whole mansion would burn down. Oh my... Are you hungry?"

 **.**

All around the Scarlet Devil Mansion was mist and rain. Mist and rain. Remilia Scarlet paced back and fourth near her bedroom window with Sakuya at her side. Lightning struck in the gardens which made Remilia jump at first. Then she returned back to panic.

"Mistress please take a rest. Your wings need healing after what happened earlier."

"How can I take a rest Sakuya?! It's pouring rain and I have no idea where my sister is! She could be hurt and I'm not there to protect her!" The scarlet devil finally sat down but preceded to rock her body like a mother rocking a baby to sleep. "This is all my fault. I'm a horrible sister. This is even worse than locking her in the basement for-"

"Nonsense milady! If you were a bad sister then you wouldn't let the little mistress go out at all. You wouldn't be worried like this either." Sakuya said. "I bet the little mistress is fine."

Remilia looked up at Sakuya. "Do you really think she is?"

"Absolutely."

The scarlet devil then scrunched up her face. "Then go find her..."

Sakuya was not that surprised to hear a request like this. She'd do things for Remilia whether they were simple tasks like getting groceries or outright nonsense things like capturing spring (which was her just tracking down Lily White). This demand happened to fall in between since it wasn't straight nonsense to do so but it was nonetheless still impossible. Most wondered how Sakuya could put up with the brat of a vampire Remilia was. She, of course, accepted it and headed out.

"Sakuya!"

The maid looked back at her mistress before walking out the door. "Yes milady?"

"...Be safe."

"I will."

 **.**

Meiling stood outside at her post. She had to stand outside unless Remilia told her otherwise. The gatekeeper was use to it and could stand through any type of weather. It was pouring rain, and Meiling was getting wet. It didn't bother her at all however since it helped her relax. She was meditating.

"Hello Meiling."

The gatekeeper looked to her side to see Sakuya holding an umbrella.

"I brought you an extra one if you need."

"Don't bother."

Meiling's harsh words dug deep into Sakuya. Even the way she said them somehow hurt the young maid.

"Listen. I know you may be still mad after what happened, but why can't we at least have a normal conversa-"

A cold and sharp stare from the gatekeeper shut her up. Sakuya was nearly frozen.

"Still mad? I wouldn't say I'm still mad. Anyhow, I would say I am still offended. A normal conversation with you is something I couldn't imagine ever happening again, miss Izayoi." Meiling said sharply.

"Please call me by my real name for once Meiling..."

"I'll call you by your real name when I respect you again. Until then, you can have all the fake respect you want from me. Good day."

The gatekeeper then turned her body to face the opposite way from Sakuya, trying to avoid as much contact from the grey-haired maid as possible. This was until Sakuya started to move closer to the dragon.

"Meiling... Please..."

"I said _**GOOD DAY**_."

Meiling shoved Sakuya off of her. Not too hard, but enough to make the maid back off for good. She only stood there for a little while longer. Only until she knew that Meiling wasn't going to turn around ever again. With that she left.

 **.**

Eirin handed Flandre a small platter of fruits. "Would you like to sit outside and watch the rain?"

Flandre shook her head. She had certainly seen enough of the rain today or any other weather. Instead she took the platter to sit next to Mokou and Kaguya who were still bickering like mad. Once they noticed the vampire the two shut up and turned away from each other.

"You two are still fighting?"

"I have nothing better to do..." The phoenix grunted.

"You could just be bothering that teacher." Kaguya shrugged.

Flandre let out a sigh and started picking at the grapes. This caught Mokou's attention.

"Heya... Are those grapes?"

Flandre nodded.

"Grapes are my favorite fruit. Especially the green ones... Yeah." Mokou said.

The vampire soon got the hint and took a few green ones off their vine. "Here you go miss Mokou. I'm not much of a fan of the green ones." She offered.

The phoenix swiped them from Flandre's hand and ate them whole. "Thank you! I haven't had any in a while!"

This subtle request of her rival prompted Kaguya to butt in as well. "You know, I am a big fan of melons..."

"Like hell you are moonbitch." Chided Mokou. "Last time I saw you eating melon was... Never in fact. I remember you saying one time that you hate melon! So stop your lyin' princess!"

"I never said I hated melon! I, honestly, have loved melon my whole life! So you can just shut your mouth big pants!"

"Here!" Flandre said and gave Kaguya a piece of her melon. The princess ate the piece and smiled.

"Thank you Flandre! Don't listen to Mokou here. She doesn't know what shes saying." Kaguya teased triggering a faint growl from the phoenix.

"You two should take a little break from fighting and put your energy elsewhere. You're making Flandre uncomfortable." Eirin barged in with another platter of fruit.

"Sorry..." The two immortals huffed and walked away once again leaving Flandre and Eirin by themselves.

"...The princess use to play videos games. Though ever since this incident she hasn't felt up to it." Eirin said. "She use to play them for hours and hours to the point where I'd have to unplug them at times. Even a genius like me can't figure out how the wires work and where they plug into at times. The only reason she played was to cure her boredom over the years."

"Maybe her and miss Mokou can play video games together!" Flandre inquired. "That's how they can resolve their problems! Right?"

This caused Eirin to let out a faint giggle.

"It is a tad bit more complicated than that..."

 **.**

Flandre burst through the set of doors to a room Mokou and Kaguya resided in.

"Listen you two! Instead of saying insults, you'll play video games!"

"Why do I need to do that again...?" Kaguya asked before answering it herself, "Ah. Eirin told you didn't she? Well those days are over now. There is no use in wasting my unlimited time with such things."

"I bet you're just scared to get your ass kicked by me at that racing game huh? Yeah, I've seen it on your shelf. Ya can't hide it no more princess!" Mokou taunted.

"Oh please! I have played that game _way_ more times than you. I bet you can't even pick up a controller." Kaguya then threw Mokou a gamecube controller. "I'll come out of my shell once more and show you how it's done. We are not playing that racing game though. Instead, we're playing a personal favorite of mine..."

Flandre sat in the back of the two with her legs crossed. She stared intently. The vampire has never seen a video game before or had ever heard of them. Kaguya plugged in the gamecube and inserted a game. Mokou waited impatiently to find out which one she put in. Once the screen loaded, it was none other than Super Smash Bros Melee.

"You have got to be kidding me..."

"I have Brawl, but I can't find my Wii right now. This'll have to do. Now, prepare to get YOUR ass kicked!"

 **.**

Sakuya Izayoi walked carefully and cautiously down the muddy road. The rain kept dumping and dumping on her umbrella and it was so darn hard to see your two feet in this misty weather.

 _"Damn. I remember it being so nice earlier. How could this happen?"_

She accidentally let go of her umbrella and it went away with the wind. Sakuya cursed herself but knew that chasing after it wouldn't do too good, so instead she decided to deal with the rain. Her clothes were already damp in seconds though, and it was so breezy that you couldn't look ahead of yourself. This was without a doubt a typical rainy day in Gensokyo.

 _"Stopping time won't do good either eh? And it's still to much even just slowing it down..."_ She thought. _"Damn it Sakuya! Think of something!"_

"Yo!"

Sakuya turned around to find herself face to face with a fairy. She was holding the maid's umbrella tightly in her arms. She too was battling the strong winds.

"You dropped this. If I let go it'll fly away. I already tried that..."

"Cirno? Is that you? Ah it's no use anyways. The thing was destined to break anytime." The maid sighed. "I'm surprised you like this weather!"

"I do! It's cold and I can fly around freely!" Cirno wiggled around with delight. "This is what I love about stormy weather! I can be the strongest!"

Suddenly a huge gust of wind blew the poor fairy out of sight. The umbrella went with her.

"Cirno?!"

But someone had grabbed the fairy before she was too far away. Now the figure approached.

"...Komachi?"

"I was walking home. I knew it was raining, but I didn't think the forecast called for stupid fairies." She grunted and shook Cirno around.

"Let me go!"

"Make me."

Lightning struck dangerously close to them. The wind picked up even more and almost blew the shinigami off her feet. They were all soaking wet and had no idea where they were going.

"Except me. I know where this path takes me. I walk down it everyday to get home. Where are you trying to go Sakuya?"

"I am finding my mistress's little sister. Although it is a near-impossible task, she has to be found." Sakuya explained.

"I saw her!" Cirno exclaimed. "She was scared of the mist! She also wanted to explore so I told her to head North..."

"I must have seen her too then." Adding Komachi. "We has a very light conversation earlier. I didn't see the way she went though."

Sakuya bowed. "Well thank you both anyways. I guess I have somewhat of a lead by now."

 **.**

"Master Eirin?"

"Yes Reisen?"

"It has been hours since the princess has started the game with Mokou. It's been getting way too chaotic in here. And our guest! The whole time she has been watching them so intently!"

Eirin and her apprentice Reisen both watched the two woman fight each other on the current video game they were playing. Flandre simply watched the two from the back but has been yawning frequently as of recently. The room had almost become a complete mess from everytime one of them lost. Flandre remained untouched and unharmed though which left many utterly confused.

It was fun though. The two immortals were bonding subtly and having a good time (in some way). They were laughing together as well which is something you do not see often with this duo. Eirin was certainly happy of this new bond. Reisen didn't mind it either, however she minded how she would be the one cleaning up after them in the end.

"Ok ok. You two can settle down." Reisen groaned. "Now who won?"

"It was a tie." Flandre mumbled. She was half awake.

Eirin took a peek at a clock that was near the two immortals. _"Almost 7 PM. These two are always at it aren't they?"_

"Miss Eirin?" Flandre managed to ask. "Am I staying the night? The rain hasn't stopped..."

"Now that I think of it..." Reisen started. "Doesn't it look a lot worse compared to earlier? It hasn't gone down at all and instead has built up. Do you know what this means?"

"It's not another incident. I don't wanna get caught up in one ever again." Mokou muttered.

"It's not an incident. I was going to say how this may be one of the rainiest days we've had in a while!"

"What? Boo, that's boring."

"Well then, miss Scarlet. I am guessing that you may need to stay the night. Not to worry. I shall prepare a bed for you right this instant!" Eirin said and dashed out the door.

Before she could enter another room, Eirin kept hearing the strange sounds of mud being tracked around the hallways. It didn't help that they have been there for a long time. The only one who could have done this was the ol' prank master herself. She never showed her face here anymore. The only clues that gave away her existence was the pitfalls and stunts like muddy paw tracks around the hallways.

After this there was a faint knock on the door. This was barely heard due to the pouring rain. Eirin managed to reach the door just to see a young maid who was soaking wet and shivering.

"Is that you Sakuya?"

"Yes. I have come to retrieve Flandre." The maid bowed. "I believe she is here."

The vampire glanced at the maid from a distance until shooting right towards her to give Sakuya a big bear hug. Boy was she glad to see her.

"S-Sakuya! How did you find me?"

"I just asked around little mistress." Sakuya said. "It wasn't too hard. Now how about we head home? Your sister is worried sick. Literally. She has picked up a slight fever. "

Flandre nods and Mokou and Kaguya rush out.

"Heya! You're leaving already?"

"Ah! Please come back and visit us!"

Flandre smiled. "I certainly will!"

Eirin gave Sakuya a bigger and sturdier umbrella to help the two back to their mansion. Once they were off, Kaguya came up to Eirin and beckoned her to bend over a little (Kaguya is a lot smaller than her friend).

"Now Eirin do not lie or make up things as you go." She started. "Tell me right here and right now why you told the story wrong?"

Eirin was silent and confused. "What?"

"Me and Mokou heard you through the walls. Everything you said about me was wrong wasn't it? You shouldn't hide the truth like that Eirin. Next time she comes over, tell her the real story. You do not need to protect me anymore."

…

"I understand princess. I am sorry."

…...


	3. Two Blinded Eyes

No one in Gensokyo could tell when the seasons changed anymore. Most only knew when Winter started and when it ended. Autumn was a little easy, but sometimes it was almost like Summer. It had it's hot and humid times at the beginning. What was hard to tell was when Spring started until one day a fairy named Lily White proclaimed herself the announcer of Spring, but after an incident that left her injured, she hasn't been the same. Now she would falsely announce the season in the middle of Winter and could harm others using her danmaku. That was the only way for the fairy to communicate since the incident left her unable to speak.

Someone else then decided to announce Spring's arrival. The only way she would know is when the cherry blossoms started blooming. On the ground, the cherry blossoms were very late and would still bloom in the middle of Summer even; occasionally in Winter too. Where she lived, these petals would bloom on the right day at the exact time. This is when she knew that Spring had officially begun.

Her name is Youmu Konpaku, the half human half phantom who lives in the Netherworld, serving her master Yuyuko Saigyouji. Her room was set next to three small cherry blossom trees which she attended to when possible, and when they'd bloom, she'd go to the human village and tell the storekeepers that Spring is here. Right away the storekeepers would put up signs which were mostly **"Spring savings!"** type of signs, and it would show people that Spring is finally here while dragging them in.

Youmu spent her days gardening and practicing sword techniques while her master would sit out and watch, eating something at least. It was a peaceful life (or should I say afterlife?) for the two aside from an incident happening every once in a while. Youmu liked it this way, but for as long as she has been around, something greatly troubled the samurai. Yuyuko noticed right away but never could understand why. Youmu use to be upbeat and happy until she suddenly became so negative and violent. Since what ever happened she hasn't been as open with Youmu as she use to be. She'd send her on missions and errands just so she could have a few moments to herself. If they ate together, they wouldn't ever say a word to one another and would sit in silence instead.

Yuyuko sleeps even if she doesn't need to. It's hard to sleep if you're dead, but that's never the problem. She'd have too much on her mind and would have to think it over before sleep even came to mind. Tonight, she just reflected on the day instead and worried about her servant. Then there was a knock on the door.

"Come in~." She said.

In came Youmu who wasn't in comfortable clothing at all.

"Lady Yuyuko," Youmu started with her usual soft and mousy tone, "You haven't eaten much today, so I came in to check on you."

"Ah Youmu! Do not worry sweetie. I just wasn't as hungry today as I normally am." Yuyuko lied.

Youmu wore doubt on her face and took a seat next to her mistress.

"Lady Yuyuko, is there anything bothering you?"

"Nothing my dear! You can go back to whatever you were doing."

"..." The samurai shook her head. "I know you very well milady. When you're not eating and you start raising your voice I know for a fact that you're lying and something's wrong. And frankly it's very obvious even without those symptoms."

Yuyuko had to agree. The ghost was never a good liar and Youmu could easily see through them like anyone could. Yuyuko never lies much anymore since it's been hard and useless to do so. If she had to lie, she would try covering it up with another fake excuse, but that would make Youmu angry.

"...You've got me." She sighed.

Just before Youmu could ask again, she got up and looked outside.

"What is it Lady Yuyuko?"

"Someones here. Please go check." Yuyuko ordered.

The half phantom stood up and left her mistress to find the intruder. Yuyuko followed behind her to see the commotion as well since she never got to see much of it. Youmu can be too overprotective at times and it gets annoying as hell.

Youmu stepped outside and approached the person. The thing was wearing a black hood that was stained with blood and ripped to shreds. Through the holes there were no signs of anyone, and the only way they could tell it was alive was from it's uneven breathing.

The gardener walked slowly towards it. "You have a lot of gut coming here in such a mysterious manner. Show yourself or I will cut you in ways that you'd never imagine!" She demanded of it and reached for one of her swords.

It didn't take their hood off but kept walking towards Youmu. In fact, the thing broke into a sprint instead and caught Youmu off guard. The gardener had no chance to move out of the way and was knocked over by what-ever-it-was. She pulled the thing down with her and they both tumbled to the ground with a sounding grunt. Yuyuko almost screeched and ran out of the mansion not even caring if her loose clothing fell off, which they were.

The two kept wrestling around until the figure was dominate over the gardener, but Youmu quickly grabbed their neck and started tightening the grip until they gasped and rolled over. Before it could get up, Youmu grabbed it again, yet this time by the cloak and started ripping more of it off. The thing groaned and rolled over again, bumping into Youmu's legs and trying to knock her off balance. The thing eventually bit Youmu's knee and kept driving her head into it until she slightly picked it up and weakly threw it to the side.

The cloak was covered in dust and grass. Youmu still held the little bits of it that she tore off but winced slightly and grabbed her knee. It was throbbing and bleeding from the huge bite it gave her, and before she had the chance to recover it started running away.

"Hey! Get back here!" Youmu roared as she quickly got on her feet and chased the figure.

It suddenly turned around and was tackled by Youmu to the ground once again. This time the half breed got the upper hand and held the mysterious figure down until they gave up struggling for a second, just to catch Youmu by the shoulder and rip the fabric off around it. The claws dug into Youmu's arm and she was forced to let go. But before it could get away, the gardener lunged towards them again and bit down hard on their shoulder to keep it in place. The thing yowled with pain.

"Please stop fighting me! I o-only want to talk!"

Youmu once had an accident regarding her left eye. She didn't want to talk about it, but the scar was so hideous she believed, that she now bared an eye-patch over it and rarely takes it off. That was sadly her only working eye, as her right eye was sightless for as long as she could remember, and it could only see the heat of a living being. She is technically blind, so the only way she could recognize who this was was to hear them speak. Upon hearing their voice, she instantly let go and gasped.

"C-Chen... Oh my goodness." Youmu stuttered and backed off slowly. "I-I'm so sorry... B-But w-why?"

"Self defense..." and they were out cold.

Youmu didn't understand if Chen was still conscious or not.

"C-Chen? Chen?! CHEN!"

"That's enough Youmu. You have done enough."

Yuyuko finally caught up to them. "You have done more than enough. She's out cold from you knocking her around too much. The poor thing..."

Youmu took a while, but eventually picked herself up along with Chen and headed back inside without a word to her mistress. Yuyuko looked down at herself an realized that segments of her clothing had fallen off due to her frantic rush outside. She headed back inside and decided to have Youmu pick things up later.

 **.**

 **Days Ago**

For a place that moves around it definitely looks appealing. The Yakumo's household is nowhere near the ordinary. It does strange things such as moving from place to place around the border or changing in exact image, inside and out. Illusion spells are placed around it so no one could find the area no matter how hard they looked. It's an unreachable place by most standards, even for Ran Yakumo herself.

Ran is a shikigami. A very intelligent one. The shikigami that most masters own are most likely dumb and can barely count to ten or talk appropriately. Ran was different in all ways possible to the point where you could easily mistake her as being a normal elder kitsune. She's even powerful enough to have a shikigami of her own, Chen. Yukari never liked the idea of this.

Yukari? She's Ran's master and has had her for a while. In fact, it was Yukari who raised Ran as her own child. Though Yukari could be thought of as a horrible "parent", it was understandable that she tried her best and cared enough to put time and effort into her shikigami. Ran, despite being very bright, has forgotten most of her past and denies that Yukari has ever cared for her. It's as of late where Yukari's mood has become quite berserk and shrewd. Most likely from Chen's recent arrival. Said above, Yukari has never cared too much for the bakeneko. On instances, Ran would read some of Yukari's diary entries and wouldn't be surprised if she came across a vulgar entry involving Chen.

One she had read was this: **"** _October 9_ _th_ _, 1998. Recently I had been sending Ran on missions involving the outside world. The boundaries are quite unstable at the moment and the Hakurei Shrine maiden says that 'she doesn't feel up to it today". Utter bullshit. Chen would ask me where Ran goes everyday and I'm thinking of buying one of those cages from Eientei..._ **"** And so on.

At least the gap youkai does nothing but threaten the poor girl. Even though that's still bad as it is, she wouldn't dare lay a hand upon someone that Ran cared about, for now. For now.

Lately Ran has been sent on missions regarding the outside world. No one in Gensokyo truly knows what lies outside of the border except Yukari and Ran, and the kitsune couldn't even tell her shikigami. She knew that what was outside was so vile and unpleasant that not even Chen could know. No one can know. Yet. Chen was left to make up answers for herself which usually took lots of time which she found easily by ditching her studies.

Like Ran, Chen is also a very bright shikigami. Not as wise as her master, but she is smart enough in a trickery fashion that get's her in trouble mostly. She would rather focus on her own ideas than to pay any attention to Ran's orders. So, to sum it up, she isn't a very good servant, but Ran tries to give her more respect and love than Yukari "ever did". Still, it becomes hard when Chen would block out her orders so she would soon enough have to start screaming at her or even physically moving her so whatever task that needed to be finished was done.

When Ran wasn't around Chen was never around either. She would take walks on her own and would sometimes visit Youmu. You could call the two friends, but the only reason that they talk is because Yukari and Yuyuko are buddies and that they're both close to the same age. Youmu is four years older while Chen is around her same maturity level, so they're bound to get along. But today, Chen didn't take a walk and decided to stay home.

The bakeneko would stay home sometimes. When she does, she mostly just stole fish crackers from the kitchen or drew figures in the sand. She had a very active imagination which meant she never got entirely bored, but it's annoying to watch her move from place to place around the house at random for a change in scenery. While is was mostly misty around her home, she pretended that the sun was out like it is on youkai mountain and would play around outside like it were Summer, much to Yukari's annoyance. The gap youkai didn't care where Chen was and was usually asleep when she stayed home, but today, Yukari was up and about.

Chen was drawing kanji she learned in the sand while Yukari came up behind her. "Those are some very nice drawings you have there Chen."

She turned around to face her master's owner.

"T-Thank you miss Yukari."

"I was never that good with my studies when I was a child. I envy you sometimes."

Chen shivered hearing the word "child" that Yukari sometimes referred to her as. The bakeneko was no where close to being a child and was more of a teenager than anything, but Yukari still felt the need to compare the girl to a kid. Perhaps it was because of power difference or Yukari being a tease 24/7.

The tone of Yukari's voice was almost threatening and unnerving. Chen picked this up quickly and felt butterflies arise in her stomach as she tried to avoid any eye contact with the gap youkai.

"I'm actually not too good with my studies. Y-You were probably a lot more successful than... me." Chen stuttered. She could barely speak. She felt like doing so would provoke the woman.

"Oh my... Are you demoting yourself just for me?" Yukari sat down next to Chen and scooted herself so close that they made body contact. "I'm flattered, but you know, you don't always need to do that next to me, Chen. I allow freedom of speech, especially for _pests_ like you."

The gap youkai then blew in Chen's ear, and the bakeneko jumped up on her feet and turned around. "Y-You know what? I-I-I'm suddenly f-feeling a little... Hungry... I'm going to make myself something..." Chen gulped and proceeded to walk towards the kitchen to avoid the woman.

This triggered Yukari to put herself in front of Chen, instantly causing the girl to jump back.

"You shouldn't abandon your master like that. It's very _**VERY**_ rude. Ran does the same things and I bet you got it from her, didn't you?"

"You aren't my master..."

Yukari titled her head. "Say that again dear?"

"I said you aren't my master!" Chen repeated herself and stepped forward, trying to push her fears back. "Ran is my master! You're just some gap hag that sleeps all day and does nothing at all to help anyone!"

…

It wasn't until after she finished when she realized that she made the stupidest mistake in history.

"...Anything else?"

Chen was sweating to where it was visible. Her rapid breathing and shaking were quite noticeable as well, so Yukari decided to push it further; questioning her objectivity.

"M-Master Ran says that she doesn't remember you ever treating her nicely. She says at times you even go as far as treating her as a mere tool and stating it out loud..."

Yukari shrugged. "That's my opinion. I shouldn't have said it like that, but you know, you can't treat everyone as equals just because they're alive. A servant is a servant and a master is a master. Black and white. Simple as that."

Chen was surprised that Yukari took these complaints so calmly, until her next statement.

"And with me mentioning it, how come you don't know your place little girl?"

"..."

A sounding **SMACK** filled the atmosphere as the poor bakeneko was throw to the side of the house just by one little hit of Yukari's fan. Chen almost made a dent in it and fell from it, yowling in pain.

"Hmm. I should be more careful next time I hit someone. Shouldn't I, Chen?"

The gap youkai then picked Chen up by her shoulders and grinned. "I never liked you much anyways. Why would I? You act like such a whiny and irresponsible bitch that never listens to what others have to say. It pisses me off, so how about you just run away and never come back. That would be good for the both of us."

Chen knew that fighting Yukari won't do anything, so she let herself fall limp and braced for anything coming her way. The gap youkai let out a faint laugh and dropped Chen out of her hands, leaving the poor girl confused.

"Silly Chen, I'm just messing with you. Stop acting so tense around me." She said. "Besides, hurting you would make me look like a person who enjoys bullying the weak. I don't do such a thing unless they disrespect me."

"But wait, you just did."

Yukari gave Chen a kick to the gut that sent her flying out of the house entirely followed by a sinister laugh from her attacker.

"You must be so surprised that you didn't even notice that your right hand was just impaled by those sharp stones you placed near the sand. What an idiot Ran raised."

Chen looked over to her right hand and saw a whole stone clearly through the middle of it. It was impossible to think how a thing like that could work, but perhaps the impact was so much and most of her weight was in her arms, it was destined to get impaled.

She heard Yukari get closer and prayed that Ran would come back sooner than later. She carefully tried to get the rock out of her hand, but the stone was placed so neatly into the ground that it would be a useless attempt to even try rescuing her hand without someones help, and it didn't look like that damn gap hag was going to do anything like that. Chen pulled her hand out of the stone so fast that the pain was too slow to reach her in the process of doing so; then she made an attempt to run out of the situation. Surprisingly is worked, and Chen went as fast as she could and didn't look back.

Yukari didn't make an effort to chase her and let Chen get away.

"It'll be a waste to go and hunt her down. Ran can go and find her if she needs to, but I bet that cat will get killed in an instant." She said to herself.

 **.**

"I heard rumors that people from the outside world are trying to get into Gensokyo. Has the shrine maiden told you about that yet Aya?"

The crow tengu shook her head. "Nope, not a thing Momiji. Reimu has barely talked to me lately and I'm beginning to wonder if shes giving me the silent treatment AGAIN... I hate that game."

Two tengus sat in a tree near the misty lake. One, the wolf tengu, held binoculars and was looking around the area, while the other, the crow tengu, held a pen and notebook. The two were yakking about new events in Gensokyo like they always do. Most are just rumors though.

"See anything yet?"

"Nope. Just trees. And Aya, why do we pick this spot anyways? All I see are trees and just trees. If we could pick a tree that's a little higher then maybe I could pick up something for once. We come to the same tree everyday and I keep telling you I see nothing but those damn trees!"

"You should at least see a lake somewhere. At least. It's harder to scout on the ground. Up here it's perfect! Totally perfect! And see down there? Someone to interview! Now, what topic should we bring up?"

Momiji put down her binoculars. "Perhaps what I just mentioned? The people breaking into Gensokyo?"

"Nonsense! That will scare the living daylights out of someone! Having strangers breaking into our beloved sanctuary? That's quite an unnerving topic! Even for some random person walking by..."

…

"However there is a lot to cover on the topic. If you brought it up, Momiji, then it certainly is news that everyone _needs_ to know! I agree tremendous amounts!" Aya beamed.

"Your welcome." Momiji flashed her a smile.

The two jumped off of the tree and headed straight for the woman they spotted. She, perchance, is even a princess, minding her own business and taking a walk through the simpler forest near the Scarlet Devil Mansion and the misty lake. She turned to see the two tengus rushing towards her.

"Hello!" Aya greeted herself. "I am Aya Shameimaru! The creator and writer of Gensokyo's one and only newspaper, the Bunbunmaru newspaper!"

"And I am Momiji Inubashiri, the Bunbunmaru's co-writer."

"I know most people in Gensokyo and I believe we haven't met. May I interview you ma'am?"

The woman nodded. "Sure. That sounds nice."

"Great! Tell me your name and a little bit about yourself so I can recognize you next time!" Aya asked and took out her notebook and pen.

"Well, my name is Kotohime and I am a police officer and a princess. A long time ago, my parents would never let me go outside because they found me as 'odd'. Ha! I'm not odd! I'm special!"

 _"Aya, this girl gives me the creeps already."_ Momiji mumbled into Aya's ear.

"So because of that, I don't get to meet people much. So this is really exciting to get interviewed!"

"Nice! Now I am going to ask you some questions. If you can't answer them then you can always pass, but try giving the best possible answer if you can." Aya ordered. "Can you do that please?"

"Sure!" Kotohime agreed.

"I'm going to stand over there..." Momiji said and walked away from the interview.

…

"Don't mind her. My friend has always been weird around new people. Which is honestly strange since dogs would normally find new people to be appealing. She isn't a normal one that's for sure, but I like her like that."

Kotohime smiled. "I'm glad you two have a very loving relationship."

Aya then madly blushed. "I-It's nothing like that though! We're just, er, really good friends is all... Anyways! First question! Have you noticed any unusual happenings with the border surrounding this world?"

It took a moment for the cop to think of an answer. The clouds covering the sky disappeared and the sun began shining down on everything in the world. Kotohime the thought of an answer while looking up at the sky.

"Nothing unusual..."

Aya started writing.

"Nothing that unusual, I admit. I go the the Hakurei shrine sometimes and visit the shrine maiden there. A long time ago, like about ten years ago, ruins suddenly showed up in Gensokyo. Reimu calls it 'just another incident' now, but I opposed that thought. I met her there and she has grown since, but the shrine maiden forgets incidents so easily like they've never happened. I guess that's just me..."

"Oh! Sorry, I digress too much though it isn't really that isn't it? I meant to say something else..."

"Keep going then."

"Reimu keeps telling me that the border had become unstable many times. Not critically, but it's been happening way too often like someone _is_ actually trying to get in here. When I was a child, I was suddenly spirited away here along with many others who instead died from youkai attacks or being unable to survive on their own. Each year, at least five people are spirited away. Sometimes more, and in the most bizarre ways possible.. Um, have you heard of the Eight Honest Men?"

"Eight Honest Men?"

"Yes."

Aya took a second to recall it.

"Never heard of them."

"They were spirited away here from their own world, where they were, from a hole in a peach tree, and one by one they were killed off. Same goes for other groups that get sent here. Like some say, _'A monster's paradise and a human's Hell'_."

 **.**

Momiji stood on the edge of the small cliff that kept the chilly lake under it. There she watched fairies play and other youkai walk along the bank. She saw the two mansions as well; one burnt and torn the pieces while the other stood tall. When Aya was out doing other things, the wolf tengu would come out to this area and relax. It was nice to set aside her stress once in a while and sit still.

From a distance she heard Aya coming up on her. Probably trying to scare her. This never worked since Momiji was equipped with such good hearing that it was useless to even sneak attack her. Most of her senses were boosted up by a ton to where she can see a thousand ri ahead.

"How did the interview go Aya?"

Aya gave up with the scare. "Great actually. I was going to head over to the Hakurei shrine to ask Reimu some questions."

"Even if she ignores you?"

Aya laughed. "Oh Momiji! She can't give me the silent treatment forever! She is BOUND to snap at sometime! But we don't need to do it right away. Let's call it a day."

 **.**

Youmu waited outside of Yuyuko's room for news about Chen. She absolutely regretted attacking her like that, but it was mostly her blindness that was at fault. Even if she can sense the heat of living beings it doesn't mean she would know exactly who it was right away.

 _"It all just seems the same to me..."_ She thought. _"Everyone's heat seems the same. Hopelessly slashing people won't do good."_

Just then Yuyuko opening the door and carefully closed it. She gave Youmu a stern look.

"We need to talk Youmu. We _need_ to talk."

"What about Lady Yuyuko?"

"...Why did you change?"

"Whatever you mean by that, the only thing I can recall is that I grew up."

"I didn't say puberty."

"You're missing the point Lady Yuyuko."

"Actually, Youmu, you're missing the point. You use to be so happy, but now I can't even have a normal conversation with you." Yuyuko paused, "Is this about being blind?"

"I am fine being blind." Youmu said. "I have learned to live only being able to see heat signatures of animate objects and I am use to that. It has never stressed me out. Not that I have remembered. But, I should be asking you why you've been acting strange. You barely talk to me anymore."

"That's because you're acting strange!"

Youmu gritted her teeth and curled up her fists. She can usually keep her cool unless it was someone like Yuyuko pestering her for answers.

"The only one acting strange here is you! I can't believe you're accusing me for being myself! Nothing had been bothering me! Nothing! So you can just shut up about it alre-!"

Youmu was cut off by a slap from Yuyuko.

" _ **Know your place gardener.**_ " She snarled.

…

"I am sorry Lady Yuyuko..."

 **.**

"Where is Chen?"

Ran Yakumo stood at Yukari's door. The gap youkai just mumbled. "Don't ask me any questions. I'm resting."

"Chen told me before I left that she was going to stay home today. You were the only other person here. Where is she?"

"Stop pestering me Ran."

Ran growled. "I saw blood on the sand! Where the hell did that come from?!"

Yukari rose from her bed and opened to door to face the angry kitsune. The gap youkai just shrugged and proceeded to close the door again until Ran stopped her.

"Look, Ran, I have no idea where that girl wen-"

"Bullshit! Complete bullshit!" Ran cried.

"...Don't talk to me like that."

"I WILL TALK TO YOU HOWEVER I WANT IF IT IVOLVES CHEN, YOU HEAR ME?!" Ran roared as she got up in Yukari's face. "I don't care if you're my master right now! I am the master of Chen, and as being her owner I expect you to at least know her whereabouts! Beat me if you want, but tell me where she is!"

"Fine. Fine, I'll tell you the truth."

Yukari shooed Ran away a little so she could slowly make her way out of the room to a nearby couch. She signaled Ran to sit next to her, and when the kitsune sat down, Yukari put a hand on her shoulder.

"Do you really want to know what happened to Chen? Where she went? If she's ok?"

"That's what I have been asking."  
"Now now... Calm down Ran. Once you do, I will tell you where she went."

It took a couple minutes, but Ran eventually felt calm enough to understand.

"...I've always hated that damn cat, so I chased her off. There, now we don't need to see the pussy ever again."

Yukari gaped back into her room before Ran could do anything. She knew that after what she said, Ran would freak out and go on to look for her. Yukari, now having a few hours of quiet, finally could try to fall back asleep, but instead she walked to her desk and opened her diary. Most of the pages were already filled.

"It really has been a while since I've written in this thing hasn't it?" She asked herself. "Maybe I should start it up again. It'll definitely get chaotic here once they hear about the outside world. Ran has already been freaking out about it."

…

 **"** _April 14_ _th_ _, XXXX. I drove Chen out. That is all I would really need to mention, but she isn't coming back. Ever. It's not like I'd chase her out again if she did come back, but the girl is probably too frightened to ever step foot here now. I traumatized her for life. Ran is going to head out to search for her, but I doubt she will find her. And when she does, the cat wouldn't have to think about returning or not since it was already decided long ago with her._

 _So what now exactly? I've still been sending Ran on her missions to investigate the outside world. Things have been the same; collecting cacti and dust. It's a pretty boring task so I have her do it unless it involves killing another person. That's when I jump into the task and handle is easily. She isn't ready for the outside worlds power, yet."_

That was all she could write. Yukari could never finish a diary entry, so she set her pen down and took a deep breath.

"What am I going to do...?"

…...


	4. Clear Skies

"Maketh way maketh way for the Crown Prince!"

The Human Village was full of commotion today. From afar it looked like a small parade of Taoist followers gathering around one person. It could also look like a big street fight as well with the villagers pushing each other around and trying to get a good look at the prince, like a small mosh-pit. But instead you could only see the three people closest to the prince. One with blue hair stood behind the others and waved seductively at the men of the village. The one with green hair stood by the prince at all times, clinging onto them tightly. The third one was speaking but no one paid much attention to her. They didn't want to listen to some shorty ramble about how amazing the prince is and since her speech was... Quite dated, it was useless to listen to either way.

"As thee all may know, the Crown Prince hither never comes to this village often, so best sure to receive a valorous behold ere that gent leaves!"

 _"Don't lie about my gender Futo."_

In all honesty the prince was really a girl. Most already knew this, but her right-hand-girl liked referring to her as a man anyways because it made more sense IN any sense and being called a man would sound more powerful around these areas, especially if it were a religious figure. She would also gain more followers, but the prince didn't care much for that. She just wanted to be home and hang out with Futo rather than doing all these politics with her. For someone who frequently joked and enjoyed laughter and movement, she did not approve of having so many strangers over her begging for blessings.

"Yeah Futo!" The one with green hair spoke. "Don't lie about master Tashi's gender! The girls would be all over her and I wouldn't be able to take one look!"

"But weren't you a man before Miko? Ah, you were so handsome back then. Such a dreamboat~." The blue haired moaned. "I wish I got a taste of you~."

"You three are all weird." The prince giggled. "Futo, stop lying about my gender. Tojiko, don't worry my love, I'll never let anyone come in between you and me. And miss Seiga, my teacher, please find a boyfriend already."

"Why-! How rude!" Seiga grunted.

"Mine Prince! Please act refined around these people! They'll bethink thy jokes art the fools language and shun thee for such acts!" Futo scolded.

"Hither one now! Crown Prince, act refined!"

When the prince was in plain sight, a small group of people would come up and talk to her. She would have to regain herself and face the crowds of people who waited to see her. This was why she wore earmuffs; to protect her from too much noise. Since she was born with the ability to listen to ten people at once, her ears are extremely sensitive.

Once she lost her muffs after taking a walk. Consequently she had to stay indoors until they found them, which took about three days. When anyone nearby had to speak even a word or utter a sound they'd have to walk further away from the prince to do so. It was torturous for everyone.

Inside the many clusters of people were two who stood out the most. All together the two wore odd clothing and didn't pay attention to the prince like everyone else was and were instead in a heated discussion. Interested, Futo approached them when the next set of people came in to talk to the prince.

"Ho! Thee two with the odd hats and thy odd clothing! What business doth thee has't with the prince?"

One of them who was just a little taller than Futo responded. "Do not pay any mind of us! We're just here to watch."

"Gaze what?"

…

"My oh my! If't be true, it's miss Komachi and the judge of the dead herself. Greetings miss Shiki. I shall apologize for calling thee out so suddenly."

"Well if it isn't Futo and the rest of the company." commented Komachi. "Boss, I wasn't thinking we'd run into them here of all places."

"Well, I believe it was simply fate." The yama stated. "But anyways, how do you do miss Futo?"

The Taoist grinned. "Lest, I am doing fine. And thee?"

"Futo!" Tojiko called. "Futo you dolt! Why have you stopped moving?! The crowd is getting too big for us to handle!"

Miko nodded. "I agree. At first I wished to visit the village in peace. Now we've turned it into a rally."

"Tush tush mine own Prince!" Futo shook her head. "These folks just wish to speak with thee! Grant their wishes by staying a bit longer!"

"Futo. I can barely see the buildings or the sky even. No humans can fly, exactly, but when I look up I still see people somehow. It isn't the fun I hoped for today, and even if I enjoy talking, it doesn't apply to taking a walk through the village will everyone wants to crowd around you and give you a thirty second story about their past failures. I am not enjoying it so far. If this continues, I would like to leave.

Besides, I am hard to see. I cover myself up with this cloak for comfort leaving others confused with my true appearance, mostly. I like hiding myself at times and today I feel like doing so. Futo, please respect that."

The cape that Miko wore (or more of a cloak) covered her whole body neck to toe with her feet barely sticking out. She slouched over as well making a first glance at her very confusing with the question of her age. Not to mention, her hair. Self explanatory if you do your research.

The Taoist grunted and turned back to the crowd. "Mine own dearest apologizes, but prithee make a pathway for the Prince to walk down. We best be heading home."

There were groans of disapproval around the area, but before long a short passage way was in sight for the group.

"You two can come if you want. It's been a while since anyone tagged along." Miko looked over at Komachi and Eiki in an offering.

"W-We're fine reall-"

"Komachi." Eiki started.

"...Yes boss?"

"Komachi, you are such an introvert."

"...Huh?"

Eiki took a deep breath like she was about to give her a lecture, and please do your research—she is about to.

"From what I've noticed over the years of our partnership, we have gotten to know each other so much that you would probably know more about me then I do myself. You could think the same since I exceptionally know you just as well. You only talk to people when you're threatening them or you at least sound condescending. Is that right?"

Komachi scratched the back of her head in discomfort. "I would have to disagree with you boss. I talk to many people. One being a hermit that I occasionally run into. You remember her right? I also met this vampire the other day who was new to Gensokyo. Those may seem like bland examples, boss, but in my case I do at least talk to people. And what does this have to do with them?"

"If you go with them, then you'd become much more of the extrovert as I expected you to be. With all that slacking, I'm surprised that you aren't the 'party girl' type like most think of you as at first glance. You're a real creeper that kills everything you walk past. Seriously, you cannot walk through flowers without them bowing down to you like you're a god sucking the poor life out of those dear things. You creep."

"Ha! Speaking _of_ speaking, we has't some quaint noisy neighbors. Those ladies are nice though and I'd did bet thee would enjoy each oth'rs company. Cometh with us for the day! Or at least walk with us. Aren't we on the same path?" Added Futo.

"Welp, if my boss is forcing me, then I can't help it. Why not?"

 **.**

Nue whistled into the air as she casually sat on top of her UFO. She stared at the clouds as if she were waiting for someone and if there were any other reason it would certainly be out of boredom. She had nothing to do at the temple except to be there as Byakuren's emotional support while others got drunk off their asses. Especially Shou who was never that sober to begin with. Coming from her point of view that is—no one was sober except Byakuren. The monk was the only welcoming one there for her when she decided to take up the Buddhist religion. And each day after everyone fell asleep, she was too scared to sleep by herself and ironically had a fear of the dark. Byakuren would then happily have Nue come sleep with her. Sleeping with the monk gave the beast a sense of security. Not just sleeping either; whenever the monk was around. Her friend, the tanuki Mamizou (who she did not remember of last name) was never around anymore despite Byakuren accepting her as well, so she didn't have any other choice then to stay near her as much as possible. Byakuren never got annoyed and in fact was more clingy to the beast then the beast was to her.

What made the stay worse was how she was treated by the members of the temple when Byakuren wasn't in sight. Every week Byakuren went on a walk by herself leaving the poor Nue behind to endure the contact from the other youkai. And it went like this:

Nazrin was the only one who paid no attention to her, and she liked it that way since the mouse was a lot ruder than anyone else there. And Nazrin never liked to harass people but was just a jerkass by default anyways, and the only reason people thought of her as rude was the fact that she ignored them in the first place. The only things she ever said now were snarks against Shou everytime the tiger decided to give any kind of physical contact to her or anyone else.

Ichirin Kumori didn't feel the need to give anyone any kind of special treatment and would instead treat them like nothing at all. With that attitude she could constantly snap at Nue for doing anything wrong just because she felt the need to be hostile towards "undeserving youkai like her". Her words. It made perfect sense that she became extremely hostile towards any youkai due to an event turning herself into one, but it still didn't make up for the way she acted.

Minamitsu Murasa was outright jealous over the amount of attention Nue got from Byakuren. That's it. That was her only reason for being how she is. Everyone so far has a reason for their actions while Minamitsu's was out of pure jealousy. She was also the most angry at Nue then anyone else in the whole temple. Nazrin and Ichirin never did much to her and Shou was only awfully drunk most of the time. Byakuren did mention that everyone there use to act a lot more refined, but it was ever since her revival that they became so aggressive.

Byakuren arrived earlier than she usually would and sighed when she saw Nue once again waiting for her. Or looking bored. Either way, Byakuren didn't approve of it and decided to interrupt the beast's thoughts.

"Looking up at the sky again?" The monk called.

"How come everything is how it is? How the sky looks so blue but it really isn't? It's just an illusion to our eyes; my eyes and yours and everyone else."

Byakuren came closer to the beast with a soft motherly smile on her face. "So when did _**you**_ start using metaphors?"

"I feel like we're asking more questions than answering." Nue stated. "In fact, I should be asking you why you came back so early."

"I missed you. And everyone treats you so poorly, so I thought I'd check up on you."

"'Check up'?! That doesn't mean you should just come back from your walk! Just because of me? That's silly even for someone like you!" Nue snapped.

Byakuren's visage became a lot more grim after Nue spoke. "It's silly to not worry about someone you care about. In fact, I worry about people all the time which is why I took you in. So many ostracize you when you can be so sweet at times..."

"I'm meant to be ostracized Hijiri." Nue grumbled. "I can't help it. It's who I am. It's in my DNA if you'd call it that. A nue is a nue, and I AM a Nue.

Here is what bothers me: You go on ahead and take your weekly walk while I decide to stand outside until you arrive so I don't have to tolerate the stench of pure alcohol inside. I have only been standing here outside every week for less than a year sitting through cold and sitting through heat and sitting through the other youkai here who give no shit about me, and I even still sit out here every week. Oh the sky has been great! Have you ever acknowledged that?"

"You're missing the point." The monk chided.

"That's because you don't get the point. I like looking at the sky when I'm angry. Do you?"

"Are you angry?" Byakuren closed the space in between them and embraced Nue. "If you are, why not tell me instead?"

"It's because no matter what, the sky has always been there for me. Through coldness and through darkness and through the high temperatures rising above 90 degrees. Even when I go through the worst of times the sky can comfort me. But it makes me feel worse when I realize it's been lying to me the whole time. And then I like to think that we're exactly the same. The sky likes to hide it's true colors just like I do. It want's to hide it's true form because it believes looking pretty in front of everyone else will make it feel better."

"...Nue..."

"...Which is exactly what I feel. It bothers me that I must keep myself silent and play dumb in front of others. It bothers me to put on a fake smile everyday. I bet the sky has it's same share of problems that I do too. We both fake our colors. So can I ask you again? How come everything is how it is? How the sky looks so blue but it really isn't? It's just an illusion to our eyes; my eyes and yours and everyone else."

Nue then returned the hug and they shared it in silence for minutes before Byakuren let go. "You make me worry even more when you talk like that. I am already worried enough... Mostly about Shou."

"Shou? Out of all people? That tiger is too drunk to hold her beer or walk. It's not like she'll start attacking someone at random right?"

"But she use to be so respectful towards others. Now when she's off duty she would go ahead and get herself drunk. In the morning she'd have a horrible hangover that we would all have to deal with..."

"Is this why you keep me in your room for half of the morning? Is she _that_ much of a raging drunk? The worst thing I've ever seen her do was the time she grabbed Nazrin by the tail and dragged her halfway across the room." She jested. "The only harm out of that wasn't much either. The poor girl just had a sore tail for a couple days. Nice to mention that it wasn't intentional too."

Byakuren made physical contact between the two again by resting her head on Nue's shoulder. "I just wish things were back to the way they were. I wish Murasa would stop acting so jealous and I wish Ichirin and I could have our normal conversations. And Nazrin—she always acted like this..."

"I expected that."

Nue stroked the monk's hair in a soothing manner.

"It was me wasn't it?"

"Don't say that Nue! They were acting like this before you came along."

Another moment of silence between the two before Nue started speaking again.

"Wasn't it centuries? How many? Either way, it was many centuries since you all have reunited? In that case isn't it normal that some may have changes in personality, right?"

Before Byakuren would reply, she spotted the group of Taoists and two others walking by them. She couldn't help but say hello, catching the attention of Futo.

"Ah, well if't be true! It is the neighbors! Good afternoon!" Futo called back.

"..."

The monk noticed the look of concern on Nue's face, but before she could say anything the beast excused herself and headed back inside the hell house.

"I should leave you here. I normally feel uncertain about these people." She said.

"How might thee be doing today miss Byakuren?"

"...Fine."

"Was that hesitation if I may ask?"

Miko slowly walked herself over to Byakuren and Futo while Tojiko followed closely behind her.

"Tojiko. I cannot get how you could feel any insecurity even if I am in plain sight."

Futo and Byakuren turned to Miko. Futo politely backed off while the prince stepped forward.

"I can see you're doing better at least,Hijiri."

"You look quite fine yourself too Crown Prince."

Miko chuckled slightly. "Too be honest with you, I fully despise that title given. Reminds me of awful times."

"My apologies." Byakuren bowed.

Even though the two were getting along, Eiki felt the slight tension between the them anyway. It wasn't too much, but the mood's emptiness definitely told her that something was off here. She could certainly see why Tojiko felt the need to stay as close to the prince as possible: So she wouldn't flip out all the time. Something was driving the prince mad, and it didn't help that she was bottling it up.

Eiki knew Komachi sensed it too when she noticed her shifting uncomfortably like everyone around them. Seiga began stepping forward a little in case anything was going to happen.

"So." Byakuren started. "What schemes have you been up to lately?"

 **GULP**

 _"Shush Komachi!"_ Eiki growled faintly under her breath. _"I bet they do this all the time. Not a big surprise!"_

 _"Still, it looks pretty bad."_

"Nothing, actually." Miko responded. "I've actually been taking walks like you do except I can't quite go places alone anymore. I don't mind it now."

"Komachi we're leaving." Eiki said and tugged on her subordinate's dress.

"What? Why? We just got here! You even insisted and called me an introvert, so why are _you_ butting out?" Komachi pulled the other direction to break away from her boss' grip. It didn't take too much effort to pull away since Eiki lacked strength.

"Let me watch. They aren't going to go straight at each others throats right?"

"..."

"Right?!"

"Taking walks you say?" Byakuren asked.

"Indeed. Very annoying walks. Well honestly nothing is quiet with me. Nothing is quiet around me even if it's silent like nothingness because these damn earmuffs won't work and I'm stuck having to live next to such noisy neighbors like you—even _if_ Senkai is it's own world _**the sounds still go through**_. I'm telling you Hijiri I'm telling you that all these voices and all these dreams and all these desires keep going through my head on and on and it gets so painful to hear at times. _**IT DRIVES ME INSANE I TELL YOU**_!"

"My Prince control yourself!" Futo shook Miko out of her mind. "Thou art acting like a hooligan!"

"B-B-But..."

"You should get some rest, Tashi." Seiga added.

…

In a flash, the prince tugged off her cape almost ripping it. She dug for her sword while emitting growls in a deep and harsh tone. Komachi backed away.

"H-Hey? What are ya gonna do there?"

"K-Komachi..." Eiki tugged horribly tight onto Komachi's dress again, this time pulling the other way instead of normally tugging it.

Komachi turned around and almost gasped by seeing the look on her boss' face. Wet with tears. She has never seen her boss so weak and harmless like this before, like someone broke her or broke something or someone in front of her which made her vulnerable to the point of breaking down in tears and snot like a little kid. Her hat too big for her size fell off her head and the yama slumped to her knees like a puppet without it's strings. Useless like an old doll which no one played with before, and Komachi was scared out of her mind.

"Boss! BOSS! What's wrong with you?! Snap out of it!" The shinigami shook and shook her, but it was hopeless.

"Hey boss! What happened to ya? Why are you all of a sudden so frail?! She just took out her sword and-" The she realized what happened.

"The sword... It's the shichisei-ken isn't it? Yeah, that sword that crushes people who bares horrible sins? Every horrible desire? Terrifying indeed, but why are you so scared of it boss? Is there something you need to tell me...?"

The rays of sunlight bounced off the shichisei-ken which made it look brighter than it was, hitting every part of it. Miko held the sword up for only a moment until dashing towards a nearby tree, and slicing it in half. The tree made a **THUMP** when it crashed to the ground, and Miko put away her sword. It happened so fast that everyone didn't have a thing to say about it.

Once the sword was fully back inside it's sheath, Eiki's eye's lit back up with life as she regained herself slightly. Komachi sighed.

"U-Ugh... I have a headache... K-Komachi... Ugh..." Eiki stammered. "H-H-Help... I f-feel like I-I'm going to... faint..."

"You better save your talking, boss. You've got some explaining to do."

"W-Wha?"

"I said save your voice!" Komachi snapped and picked the yama up. "Save it. If I hear anything else from you I'll surely drop you right now and I don't care if I'll be fired or not. Just _**save it**_."

"Crown Prince what in the almighty heavens didst thee just doth?! Thou art ang'r'd deeply by the fact yond thee cannot walketh high-lone and thee believes destroying ones property is the truth? How dareth thee!" Scolded Futo.

"Shut up! Shut up! I cannot understand a single word you're saying anymore!" Miko wailed.

"I am... Well, I am so very sorry." Tojiko apologized. "But, you know she gets like this at least once a week... I swear she's going to go mad."

"She's already mad!"

Byakuren turned around and faced Shou. Alcohol tainted her breath as she held her spear out towards the prince. Standing taller than even Byakuren herself, she slowly staggered towards the prince while mumbling indecipherable phrases to herself. Most likely curses.

"Listen here you..." Shou growled, but Byakuren was surprised with how sober she sounded. "I saw you aim that thing at her... At Hijiri. Like you were gonna attack her. Was that your intention?"

"The what...?"

"The damn sword!" Shou said. "The damn sword you keep in your pocket everytime you walk by us! Why the hell is that damn thing with you all the time?!"

"What are you trying to say drunk?" Seiga butted in. "Tashi was clearly pointing at the tree. Why bring up something so ridiculous into a simple matter such as this?"

"Shut it ya slut; I was talking to the _prince_ here."

"Don't you dare call her a slut you failure of a disciple!" Miko hissed and stood up straight.

Shou got so close to Miko that they were only inches apart from each other—the tiger towering over Miko. Shou almost looked like she could attack the prince at any moment.

"...What makes you think you can call me that?"

…

"For as long as I remember, so far, I have been locked away in the mausoleum for reasons too personal to explain. And for over 1000 years I laid in a deep deep slumber. That whole time, we were in limbo. We were awake and changing.

And let me tell you just how it felt. How so realistic but so fake at the same exact moment. It felt as if time has stopped and we all began to form into something other than _human_. The lights in the dark and the dark blurring the lights while the immense feeling of being in no spaces at all played in. We were dead but not dead. We were alive but not alive. For a single moment in time I broke through the non-existent boundaries of the universe and logic itself as I tore through the dirty cracks of what man has left. I was no more a human, nor a beast, but literally nothing. It was the form we all dreamed of. _I dreamed_.

It was like a dream that lasted a thousand centuries. A beautiful face that would never stop smiling; a lovely plain that would never die. It lasted forever and I knew that I have reached the unreachable that man has never set foot in yet. I breathed in the air and I bathed in the sun. I drank from the fresh water and I walked slowly through the endless patches and patches of grassland. It was one of the best things I have ever experienced. Until a voice called out to me and the sky began to darken.

 **'Good afternoon'** it spoke to me in a ragged but calm voice.

'Good afternoon to you too. How might you be?'

 **'I could be doing better. You seem to be enjoying your time here.'**

'Ah! Indeed I am!' And I kept frolicking through the grass. 'This is the best feeling I've ever experienced! This new immortal body feels so wonderful!'

But please tell me, ma'am, what your name is? I wouldn't want to be rude by addressing you by anything else.'

 **'My name is Impurity.'** It responded. **'I am the sin that rests in every living soul. I am the desire that follows you wherever you go. I am the blood that runs from everything killed. I am the bear that awaits your foolishness so I can attack. I am the human that taints the Earth with my pride, my lust, my envy, my greed, my hunger, my laziness, my wrath, and my malice.**

 **And please, do tell me your name.'**

'My name is Toyosatomimi.' I said. 'I fight for the humans sake at least. Why must you feel the need to call yourself a human when it is impossible for any to find this place?'

 **'This place is simply limbo.'** Impurity said. **'Limbo is the world between two that is not reality or fantasy. It isn't pure nor impure. It isn't anything but it's everything. It's the hardest thing to define since there is no definition at all. Only we can share our own Limbo.'**

'Limbo is nice then.' I said. 'Limbo is such a peaceful place where softer land stretches farther than the eye can see. Where trees grow divine and exquisite berries with no manually added growth of any sort. Or anything you could think of is here. How can something like this exist?'

 **'Only we know.'**

But the more we talked the darker the sky became until the clouds became as black as night while the distant oceans flooded into the nearby caves. Until the souls from the sky cried and engulfed us with wind and rain and you could hear the many lives of everyone cowering and cowering until Satan grabbed them by their tongues and dragged them down to Hell, where everything impure was thought to go to.

'How darker must the sky get?' I asked with no hint of fear in my voice.

 **'As dark as it must.'** Impurity answered. **'There is no end to the cycle of rebirth. Now that you've reached your final stage, I am waiting for your decision.'**

'My, my what?'

 **'You're new. There has only been barely a few that have passed this. How sad is that? Should I ask you the question now? Now?'**

'You've lost me ma'am.' I finally started to regain my sense of fear, but it wasn't for long.

'You've lost me big time ma'am. There shouldn't be any final test once you've reached and passed the final stage. I've already sealed myself away for centuries so I can reawaken again someday and restore the teachings of Taoism to the peo-'

 **'Exactly! That's exactly what I meant!'**

 **'You believe that this is all in it for the people? Is that so? How can you pair yourself with such unworthy and disgusting creatures that roam this planet and call themselves powerful? Why would you waste your time trying to convince these dolts that Taoism will solve everything?!'**

I remember the fields of grass died and the berries grew bad and shriveled up while all the lights turned out at once. I felt the butterflies turn into moths and the bees turn into mosquitoes. They bit me and ate my clothes while the flowers spun around me and tied me in an inescapable knot. The more I struggled the tighter they got and by the time I stopped I suffocated.

 **'Doesn't it feel nice to have an immortal body?'**

 **'Doesn't it feel nice to be invincible?'**

 **'Doesn't it feel nice to know that you'll never be impure like those damn humans anymore? You won't be like them and you'll never be them. They'll look up to you but they'll still mean nothing. They'll die after a century and you'll live on. You'll live on! YOU'LL REINCARNATE FOREVER AS LONG AS LIMBO STAYS IN** PLACE!"

"SHOU!"

Byakuren flung herself at the tiger as she attacked the delusional prince, but was thrown off to the side by said tiger. Instead Shou beat her fists against Miko's face several times and it didn't look like she was going to stop anytime soon. Miko did nothing to stop her.

"I HAD ENOUGH OF YOUR DAMN RAMBLING! ENOUGH ENOUGH ENOUGH!"

Miko finally then started to kick at Shou's gut to slow her down but was too blinded by the spilling blood to see what she was doing. It filled her eyes and her nose before she began suffocating like the flowers that pulled her down. She was drowning. Futo also tried to pry Shou off but was thrown off just like Byakuren was, except she hit the ground harder with a **CRACK!**

Finally Nue rushed outside and tackled the drunk Shou to the side so Miko could escape, but she did nothing and sat there motionless.

"What are you doing?! MOVE IT!" Nue screamed at the prince. Still, she did nothing.

Shou grabbed the skinnier girl but didn't attack her. She shook her around trying to figure out the situation while not noticing Miko slowly pick herself up. The prince limped away and said not another word. Tojiko followed of course.

"Nue...!" Shou stopped shaking her. "You! What are you doing here?!"

"I live here! Now put me down!" Nue struggled and finally got out of Shou's grasp.

"You're drunk! You're so fucking drunk right now Shou! It's almost like you aren't even yourself anymore!"

Shou drew back a little at the remark. "I AM still myself. You haven't even known me that long..."

"I would like to. But I will never be able to if you're like this now. Weren't you 'nicer' before?"

"Before what...?" Shou suddenly dozed off. Probably from alcohol overdose like usual. She could be so lively one second and pass out cold the next. It was funny, sometimes.

"Nue your arm-!"

"...It's just a scratch..." She said. "Listen—I'm going to hang out with Mamizou for a couple days. Just to get my mind off things. Sounds like the best idea right?"

"Oh... Ok..."

Nue was silent for a moment, but the next she walked off the scene like Miko did and didn't turn around once until she was completely out of the picture.

"Futo, get up please." Seiga said flatly.

"If you don't get up, I swear I'll tear off your limbs and your balls with them so it'd hurt to get up again. So get up."

"...I doth not has't any balls, but I doth believe yond something broke—so prithee do not saw mine own limbs off too." Futo said.

"I'm surprised you're still alive. You looked so lifeless after that monster threw you off."

"She isn't a monster..."

Seiga glanced over at Byakuren and huffed. "Sure, because monsters don't attack people at random like that, right?"

"She's just... 'Different' from what she used to be like."

"So you're saying that this is normal now?" Seiga retorted, "Because if something as _serious_ as this happens again, I'm finding a tiger sized muzzle to put on that animal. She needs one."

 **.**

Something of Futo's was broken. Most likely her ankle and less likely her foot, but something WAS broken for sure. Seiga was stuck with carrying her back to Senkai in an embarrassing bridal carry, but holding the fragile woman any other way would be too uncomfortable physically and would harm the two even more, so to be embarrassed made much more sense. The two avoided talking (much from Seiga's side) because of the bizarre position. Futo needed to spill it though.

"I give you would not say such vile things to such a kind lady like Hijiri."

"Shut up Futo."

"Or me either. Thou art as malapert to me as thou art to everyone when something bothers thee. But strangely any other time thee likes to 'mess' with us... So is't only lust and wrath thee carries?"

"...Futo. Let's except that we'll never be as pure as our prince is. I am impure but do I look like I care?"

Futo didn't answer.

"The answer is no. I will have lust and I will have wrath if I want. I'll never find that 'place' anyway, so whats the point of trying to be pure?"

"Limbo?"

"Yes. There."


	5. Old Love-New Love

_Once upon a time... The outside world._

 _No one has ever dared step foot there._

 _No one but the hag that trapped us all in her funland._

 _How we wish to return home..._

 _April 9th, 1988. We managed to find actual life through the heaps of rubble. She stayed with us for only two days before disappearing into the wilderness of Gensokyo. We assume she's dead._

…

 **"** _...I can't remember the date today. I was never taught to count. I was never taught to speak out. Not even to defend myself. All they said I needed to know was to stay out of things, but I was too curious of a child to listen. Now I'm the only one left, a fool and not a lady._ **"**

Seija paused for a second before scribbling out the entry and starting on a new page.

 **"** _...I can't remember the date today. That's all I worried about before I was kidnapped because they say that time is an important tool to have. Apparently they don't use time at all and go along with their routine without knowing when it starts and when it ends. Those damn Lunar-_ **"**

Seija paused again and groaned. She couldn't think of anything to write down. Her mind was solely focused on the terrible experiences she's went through. She wanted to write something light-hearted for a change, but nothing good has ever happened to her. Not even small things that surfaced every now and then, and even if being trapped at Reimu's shrine wasn't necessarily a bad thing, nothing happened there either. She didn't mind it, but everything in her diary so far has spoken of truly horrifying experiences. If she somehow survived long enough to forget all those troubles, she didn't want to look back at her diary and read about these. Seija scribbled out this entry and started on a new page once more.

 **"** _...Nothing good happens to me. Not even small things. I've been staying at this shrine for a while now. Staying sounds too generous though. I'm a prisoner now. I can't go past shrine grounds and if I try to the shrine maiden will kill me. Exterminate me. Blow me up into bits without question! I don't want to stay at this blasted shrine for eternity! If I could I'd rather be escaping to the outside world so I don't have to face the full wrath of the-_ **"**

She threw her diary across the room and crushed her pen. The ink squirted everywhere and even into her eyes. "Damn it! Damn it! I can't think of a damn thing to say!" She roared and tossed her broken pen at the door.

The door opened when the pen hit it. It was Reimu.

"Seija. Come outside."

"No thanks Hakurei." Seija answered regaining composure. "I don't feel like hearing your shenanigans today. I'd rather not be bothered for the rest of my life unless it has to do with ending it."

From the door you could hear Reimu let out a long disappointed sigh. She opened it more and saw the diary at her feet. She picked it up with a look of interest. "Hey. What are you writing in here?"

"I'm writing in my diary Hakurei. You have a problem with that?"

"Actually, I do. I have a big problem with you keeping secrets from me. I also have a problem with the name you're calling me." Reimu cackled.

"Give it back Hakurei."

Reimu grinned. "Call me Reimu then."

"Burn the diary."

"I'm not _that_ mean."

"BURN the diary Hakurei."

"You do it yourself. Besides, you must have a lot of important memories in here that you might forget about someday. I believe keeping it over the years is a good idea. Marisa has one too and she makes entries everyday whereas my life is as boring as watching a rock stuck in a ditch. I don't need one; you do. And if you're going to be living here for a while, we might as well become friends. I'll bug you no matter what so stop being such a pain in the ass."

Seija swiped her diary back from Reimu and growled. Reimu shrugged, "Come out for just a little bit. When you want, but please do. The little one wants to see you very badly."

The shrine maiden took one last glance at the amanojaku before carefully closing the door. When she was gone for sure, Seija opened her diary again and kept on writing.

 **"** _Today, just now, the Hakurei shrine maiden came in my room and asked me to join her outside with her other stooges. I don't get it. For as long as I've been here she hasn't treated me like a prisoner at all. In fact, she's been more respectful towards me than anything, which really confuses me. I really hate her._

 _Not like actual hating her, but like, 'hating' her, which may sound confusing to other individuals, but I absolutely without any doubt despise that shrine maiden and her loud crazy witch friend. They both annoy the hell out of me and I wished to have nothing to do with them. Boy, I sure hope the Lunar Capital kidnaps them next_ tim- **"**

She stopped right there. "I hate that fucking place..."

 **.**

"When is she going to come out?"

"Who? Seija?"  
Marisa thought about what she said for a minute before nodding. "Yeah, her."

"That's hard to tell. She practically hates everything and everyone, so probably not for a while." Reimu said. "I was hoping she'd come out to see Sukuna at least."

"Here I am Hakurei." Seija grunted as she emerged from the front doors of the Hakurei shrine. In the sunlight her skin glowed a bit. She looked a lot younger and nicer then she did in the dark rooms of the shrine. This triggered a whistle from Marisa.

"Wow. I love it when you're wrong Reimu." The witch snickered.

"Hello Black-White." Seija grunted.

Marisa's eyes sparkled with joy. "Ohh! You have a nickname for me as well! I like it! Makes me sound like some kind of mysterious criminal who all the girls fall for, you know what I mean Reimu?" She elbowed the shrine maiden.

Reimu turned to her friend and glared. "Don't encourage her Marisa."

"My new name is Black-White and I expect you to refer to me as so!"

It was a warm Sunday morning. The sun was already out and warming the air and the song birds sung until you'd feel like ripping your ears out. When it was this nice outside, the more pacifist youkai roamed about. Pacifist meaning the fairies who pulled pranks on poor humans walking around the area. While they were harmless for the most part, it was quite the annoyance to put up with. What bugs Reimu are her neighbors who pull pranks on her all the time. They were in fact a group of fairies. Where there were pranksters moving about, other youkai around moved about to different places to interact with their friends and make use of a beautiful day like this. And there was one group that moved around more frequently than anyone else on these sunny days.

At 10 o'clock AM sharp, a hot air balloon was spotted in the sky. On the balloon's design were firefly paintings, music note paintings, random dark spots of black paint splattered over it, and a huge blue notable "9" with a circle around it right smack in the middle. It was heading towards the Hakurei shrine very fast like it was about to-...Uh oh...

"What the hell is that?!" Seija screeched and cowered back into the shrine. Reimu and Marisa sat like two separate statues without much fear but a hint of worry because this wasn't the first time it's happened, but they can't guarantee that it'll miss like last time.

The balloon twisted and turned and toppled over in the air several times before crashing not on the Hakurei shrine, not near it, but below it's steps like predicted. Reimu and Marisa let out a sigh of relief and Seija poked her head out again to see that they weren't smashed.

"Damn, that almost hit us this time." Marisa said.

A few moments later, an ice fairy climbed up the steps to the shrine and following her were three other youkais. One was a firefly who wore a cape that surrounded her whole body, another was a sparrow who's feather's got in the way of everything and was leaving a trail of them behind her, and the last one was no particular youkai in general, but was busy enjoying a piece of meat still on it's bone getting blood on her black dress.

"Greetings common folks!" Said the ice fairy named Cirno, "We are Team (9)! The best treasure hunters ever!"

"Cirno, I don't remember the last time we found any treasure here. We can't call ourselves that when we haven't found a single piece of booty." The firefly named Wriggle said.

"Haha! You said booty!" Cirno hollered.

"Aw calm down Wriggle~!" The sparrow named Mystia patted Wriggle on the back. "Don't be too hard on her. She just always keeps her hopes up, which is good! We should be optimistic. Right Rumia?"

Rumia was too busy chewing on her food but gave Mystia a thumbs up of approval.

"What are ya'll doin' here?" Marisa asked.

"Finding treasure! Duh." Cirno responded and puffed out her chest. "If we weren't looking for treasure then we wouldn't be called the best treasure hunters ever ya know?"

"Well ya ain't gonna find a thing here. Reimu's shrine is full of junk, junk, and more junk. But we will allow you to look in that extra building over there." Marisa shifted over from her seat to point at the small and unwelcoming structure near the shrine.

"Marisa. Only I can decide that."

"Reimu, we are basically a married couple. No friends hang out this much and I've been here more times than the people who live here have. I should have a say in who goes where and who does what, so call me your husband and let them explore."

"...Fine, ' _my husband_ '." Reimu muttered. "Cirno, you and everyone else can look, but don't take anything without my permission AND DON'T mess with any of the vases in there. You hear me?"

"We do!" They said crossing their fingers behind their backs.

 **.**

Marisa was right. Reimu's shrine is full of useless junk. But if you love junk, you will love her shed. Reimu decided that she wasn't going to use the extra building and stored some things in there. Then one day she opened it to find that the shed has been infested with Marisa's belongings resulting in the mess. You could find anything in there.

Cirno was amazed looking at the amount of stuff inside it. Wriggle cringed a little. She was never much of a fan of messes despite being the only one in the group who sleeps in piles of leaves.

"We shouldn't be doing this." She said.

"Come on Wriggle! We should! It'll be fun!" Cirno giggled.

"It's a bad idea Cirno. I know once we get into this mess that something horrible will happen. I know it will. You know that funny feeling I get in my antennas when something bad happens. It always does- WHOA!" Wriggle took a few steps back, running into Mystia and cutting off her own worries.

"This looks fun, Wriggle. Why not? You worry way too much. We can't always trust your antenna's judgment."

"Well... If you say so Mysti."

The four of them entered the filthy room and were instantly welcomed with piles and piles of rubble crashing down onto them.

"IT'S AN AVALANCH! SAVE YOURSELVES!" Cirno screamed as she got swept away and disappeared within the mess.

"M-My meat!" Rumia cried when her meat got knocked out of her hands. Now she was desperately searching through things to find it again until she was out of sight. Wriggle carefully moved things out of the way and looked through the piles of things to see what she could find.

"I found an album and a record player." She said. "I kinda want these..."

"Whose is it?" Mystia asked.

"It's too dark to tell. Damn, why can't someone take the time to put a light-bulb in here? Someone like us will eventually look through this garbage and wonder the same damn thing!" Wriggle complained and held the album up. "Ah, it looks like a jazz album. I didn't know Reimu had such great taste in music."

"Aren't you a firefly? Shouldn't you be able to light a part of your body up? Or can't you revert back to your original form?" Mystia asked.

"I'd rather not in here. It's possible that that wasn't the only avalanche in store for us. I could get crushed." Wriggle shivered. "Maybe Cirno knows. Where is she anyways?"

The two looked around. No Cirno. No Rumia. Just them and the dark. It was almost pitch black inside with only the tiniest rays of sunlight seeping in through the small cracks in the wall. Wriggle almost dropped her album when Mystia started rubbing against her.

"Say, Wriggle, I don't see Cirno or Rumia anywhere. I'm not blind in the dark like you are."

"Me neither. But I can see alright enough."

Mystia giggled innocently. "Do you think we should go look for them?"

"Ehehe, Probably?"

"Or, did you want to hang around me a little longer? We never get the time to sit and talk anymore like we use to." Mystia's tone became grim. "Ever since... You know?"

Wriggle noticed the tone in Mystia's voice and embraced the sparrow in a comforting hug. She heard her friend let out a sigh of grief. Mystia snuggled in closer to the affection.

"I-I'm sorry for being so somber out of the blue. I-I just can't take my mind off it. It happened so suddenly." The sparrow cried.

"No. Don't be sorry, Mysti. It must be hard for you losing your parents so suddenly like that." Wriggle said, "And you're lucky to even have parents. I don't remember the faces or the names of mine. They left me so early, but I guess that's what fireflies do. You actually had a family that loved and cared about you. You still have your brother as family too. And I'm always here if you need it."

Mystia nodded slowly still digging her wet face into Wriggle's chest, but soon a smile returned to her face. "Thank you. Thank you for being here for me."

"Always."

The sparrow let go of Wriggle and stood up straight wiping the tears from her eyes and resumed giggling again, yet a lot quieter this time.

"Let's go look for the others."

 **.**

"Darn it!" Cirno screeched.

"I'm lost in this mess! Lost lost lost! Now what?! I can't dig out and I can't call for help! Ugh, the air sure is thin down here..." She coughed.

Cirno dug around a little. She dug to the left, to the right, up, down, everywhere until she realized it was no use. She poked at a couple things which seemed to be vases so she could get better air, but the more she messed with it the more things piled up on top of her. It's like the shed was a fairy death trap. This damn thing was larger on the inside than it was on the outside! How would she ever get out?

"No... I can't give up now!" She said. "There is no such thing as giving up in my vocabulary! I'm the one who always pushes forward even if people think I can't! I'm the one who went beyond the boundaries of my kind and fought people tougher than me! I'm the one who led this group of youkai into dangerous places and led them out unscratched (I think). I AM THE STRONGEST! NOTHING CAN STOP ME!" She then turned to the messes around her. "Now, you inconsistent pile of junk! I will conquer you until you cry home to your mommy!"

Cirno dug through rubble and unexplainable items without stopping. She dug deeper and deeper and deeper until she hit something hard with her hand. Retracting it back with an "ow!", she saw a huge vase in front of her. It was covered in rune markings (but of course Cirno can't read it. It's pitch-black unless you have night vision idiots).

She scratched her chin. "Reimu told me to not touch any vases... But I don't listen to her! I listen to my gut! It says it wants shaved iced... But I'll open it anyways!"

With that, Cirno opened the "vase", and smoke surrounded her.

 **.**

"Seija." Reimu started. "You should go see her. You haven't talked to her ever since you've here."

"I don't feel like it. I can't ever face the kid again and I would like it to stay that way. I've messed the kid up so much that she'd be better off not seeing my face. Cruel world huh?" Seija responded.

Inside the shrine was a tiny hand-made doll house. It wasn't that tiny. It was like a doll mansion for those action figures that were over a foot tall. This was definitely big enough for Sukuna who was a lot smaller than a foot. Shinmyoumaru Sukuna, but most use her last name, was with Seija not too long ago helping her plan an uprising. She too was captured, but Reimu wasn't hard on her at all. Instead, she served her at times and had Alice make that doll house for the inchling. It was almost too big for most dolls and fit Sukuna's needs perfectly. In thanks for "taking her in" she knitted Reimu a matching kimono, but it was too small for the shrine maiden. She put it to other uses instead. They became fast friends after Reimu accepted her gratitude and called her one of the "less annoying youkai she's met".

Normally she slept decently until Seija arrived. Since then she hasn't been able to eat think and sleep properly. So instead of waking up past noon like usual, she made her way from the mini house to the conversation hoping that the amanojaku would take notice of her.

"Don't assume Seija." Reimu said sternly. "Shin misses you dearly. When you weren't around, the poor thing was depressed for days and nothing cheered her up. Then you came along impossibly unharmed. She lit up and cried sweet tears of joy. I've never seen her that happy before that's for sure. You need to at least say hi to her!"

"For the last time Hakurei I can't do it!" Seija bellowed in annoyance.

"Now you listen here and you listen now Hakurei. I have been through so much crap in my life and it doesn't help that I made others lives crappy as well. That poor girl had to go through all my life when I tore her away from her home without question. Look where we are now. I couldn't bear facing her again while most of my kind can do this every day for the rest of their lives. It makes me sick to the stomach. I am _**not**_ like them at all. I actually have feelings too surprise surprise. Hell, I feel like a heartbroken human saying something as ridiculous as this, but I don't mind be shunned anymore. I don't mind being hated anymore. But I don't mess with people that I have already messed with in the past like Shin. I don't mess with people who despise me. And talking to her would ruin me even more. End of discussion!"

"Do you really think that, Seija?"

The amanojaku took a peek behind herself to see Shinmyoumaru sitting there casually listening to her bickering. Seija became weak and flustered. Did she really hear all that?

"Do you really believe that? Is it really that hard to talk to the one girl who forgave you already?"

"...Wha-"

She smiled. "There's something I forgot to say to you, Seija."

"...I-"

"I love you." The inchling giggled. "I always have. Thank you for opening my eyes."

Before the amanojaku could react, blue smoke emitted from the shed followed by sounds of fireworks. It could've been those weird bombs Alice threw inside there one day, but Reimu's first thought was this: Cirno was an idiot. She could've just released something. She could've released someone!

"Oh no oh no oh no..." She repeated as she ran over to the scene as fast as she could. "Oh god oh no..."

 **.**

Cirno's vision was clouded for seconds until things started to brighten up a bit. The whole roof of the shed was blown off from whatever internal explosion arose and the sun peeked inside so everything was clear. An ominous figure floated in front of the fairy rubbing it's sides and stretching it's limbs. The fairy was bewildered when she got the full picture of this being.

"Hmm... Finally." It said. The voice was deep and malevolent. "I wonder how long it's been since I've been in this world. How long I was kept away by the eye of others. Perhaps years. Maybe centuries. Maybe millenniums." She did a long stretch and twirled around a little. "But that doesn't matter. What matters is that I'm finally back baby!"

"W-Who are you?!" Cirno asked shivering like she was cold (which never happened). "Are you a genie?! A bird?! A ghost?! All three?! Where are your legs?!"

The mysterious figure thought for a moment, then let out a hearty laugh of pride.

"Who am I? WHO AM I YOU ASK?" She began.

"I am none other than the great and powerful god of the Hakurei shrine, MIMA!" She took out her staff which had a tipped crescent moon at the end, and a blast of blue smoke emitted from it, filling up the whole shed. It smelled like shaved ice. Mima struck a weird pose, but Cirno liked it no matter.

"And who might you be?" Mima asked.

"C-Cirno! That's my name! I'm an ice fairy!" She nodded and made tiny ice cubes overflow in her hands. "S-See?"

"Cirno..." Mima paused. "...I like it! It sounds powerful and full of confidence! I'd hear this name being from a great adventurer who has climbed the highest mountain in the world! Cirno... CIRNO! That name spells determination!"

"But it's spelled C-I-R-N-O."

"I was just putting feeling to it!" Mima said. "Every name gives off their own vibe in my opinion. Yours is determination indeed. Mine is, well, quite sad. But not the saddest! I know a girl here who's name is much worse than mine!"

Reimu kicked the doors open. "MIMA!"

Mima turned to the shrine maiden and gasped. "Sendai is that you?!"

Reimu cocked her head to the side. "Who...?"

"T-This makes no sense!" Mima shook her head. "W-What if I somehow went back in time when I slept? What does this mean? I-Is my past self still here-"

"Mima! It's me Reimu you idiot!" Reimu barked.

Mima was currently experiencing very mixed thoughts right now. She didn't know how to react and when to react, but when her mind came back down to Earth and realized where she was, she lunged at the shrine maiden and gave her a hug only a mother could give, crushing the girl.

"Reimu! Is that really you?! You're so old now I barely recognized you my sweet!" Mima cried with joy and spun her around.

Reimu tried to break away from her grasp. "It's only been ten years Mima! I'm eighteen!"

"Eighteen?!" Mima gasped. "Eighteen?! You're Eighteen?! Oh my goodness you're a grown woman now compared to the child I once knew! Yes yes yes! My Reimu is eighteen years old!"

Reimu slightly hugged the spirit back. "Yeah... I missed you too." She smiled.

"Hey Reimu?" Cirno raised her hand like she was in class. "I have a question."

"...I guess I need to explain a lot to you," Reimu sighed, "But not now."

 **.**

"L-Lady Mima?!"

Mima smiled. "Oh my sweetheart! Come give me a hug!"

Marisa and Mima shared an adorable mother/daughter-like embrace for the first time in ten years. Reimu looked at them together and thought about how much of Mima's personality and habits Marisa picked up over the years, yet she couldn't say it was just from her. Once Makai was destroyed, Marisa went on to explore the rest of Gensokyo because the other humans were too afraid to and left Reimu behind. They met once again during the Scarlet Mist incident and have been close since. It could've been anyone who influenced her out there. That witch has known Remilia and Sakuya for years.

"My my! You have grown up as well Marisa!" Mima laughed. "You look a lot like your mother now."

"I didn't know Marisa had parents." Reimu said.

"Silly Reimu! Where did you think I came from?" Marisa chuckled.

The red-white shrine maiden gave her a look. "...Not your parents?"

Mima was howling with laughter. "Reimu. Did _they_ not teach you yet?"

"Teach me what?"

Seija sat next to Sukuna in silence. The two of them could be talking like normal people do, but the atmosphere was very crazy at the moment. Sukuna just confessed her love and now a family reunion was happening in front of them. Seija knew she had to speak up.

"I'm sorry." She muttered.

Sukuna looked up at her and smiled. "The past was the past. I don't mind."

Seija felt a small smile creep up the corners of her face as well. A feeling she hasn't experienced in a long time hit her, and it felt nice. Nicer than what she's been going through. Maybe because she knows for sure that someone out there still truly cares for her. The amanojaku gave the inchling a tap on the head.

"You're a good kid, Sukuna."

 **.**

Cirno and company had already left taking the record player and the album with them. It wasn't much of a treasure, but was definitely something you'd find at Kourindou or around Gensokyo's barrier. That's why every piece of junk Marisa found around the area was immediately donated to Reimu's shrine. It was the only "type" of donation she gave her.

With Mima and Marisa too busy catching up and Seija and Sukuna trying to communicate with each other, Reimu creeped back to the shed again to look for the vase that Cirno supposedly opened.

The room looked a lot less messier than it originally was but with the roof no more she could see her two feet in front of herself. _"They didn't dig through THAT much stuff? Right?"_ Reimu thought. At least the walls were still intact, surprisingly. _"Maybe I should have Marisa look for it. She's good at finding things through huge messes like this._

 _And she was the one who made it messy in the first place! I only put a few things in here until she barged into my life and started cramming as much crap in here as possible! It should be her responsibility, not mine."_

Reimu shook her head knowing that complaining wouldn't get much done and started shoving things aside. Hopefully the idiot didn't take the vase and left it where it was. But maybe not—it _was_ valuable. Reimu was surprised that it sealed evil spirits in the first place. It didn't, and she didn't know how someone could do such a thing. It obviously wasn't her who went through the trouble, but one day ten years ago Mima mysteriously disappeared with no traces. Yuuka guessed that she ascended. Reimu had no memory of whom told her this, but she knew that Mima was trapped inside this vase. She didn't know how to get her out either and wondered if she was even suppose to. Now she had the strange feeling of someone coming after her. Reimu shook that thought off her and kept looking.

The vase wasn't one of a kind. It looked like the majority of others scattered around the floor with only runes telling them apart. They all had a brown and dark red color pallet with runes written with black ink (or paint). Most said similar phrases as well while serving similar purposes—for sealing usually was the case. Some of the names didn't translate to it's purpose even. One said _**Malicious and Horrible Existence**_ which actually served as a normal vase. Another said _**Profits of Past and Future**_ which held yen and sometimes multiplied it (it was broken though). One simply spelled _**Death**_ was suppose to turn anything you put into it a weapon. If you put a sword or a stick inside it, it'll evaporate into a deadly gas that kills you instantly. Along with many other bizarre vases, the one Reimu was looking for spelled _**Deity of Evil**_.

Maybe it was bad translation as well?

How these vases work surprised Reimu. Someone must have spent their time shoving a bunch of random spells inside them while being an expert at pottery. Then they'd spin a wheel with tons of comical yet intriguing names pasted on it and once the pointer landed on one they'd write it down in runes on the pot. Last thing is to throw it out the window where someone like Marisa would happily not put it to any use and sneak it into the donation box. It was absolutely hilarious, but not for the shrine maiden.

As she scanned the many piles, she faintly heard her name being mentioned from outside, and someone directing her to her location. Reimu thought for a moment thinking she recognized the voice until she realized that she did recognize the voice of someone she didn't need to see. In a moment of panic, she dove into the piles of junk to hide herself from the younger girl who burst through the doors without hesitation.

"Reimu are you in hereee?"

Yup, none other than the wind maiden from the youkai mountain. I wonder what she's doing here?

Sanae looked around the room and sighed. "If you're hiding in this junk I'll blast you into next week! Come out!"

…

Reimu slowly emerged from one of the piles with a normal vase stuck on her head. She stumbled out and raised her hands high in the air as if she were surrendering.

"I'm not Reimu! Er, I'm... Um... Meimu! You must be at the wrong shrine! Please don't shoot!" She lied.

"Well then what is Marisa doing here? Hm? Or Seija? Hmm? Or the inchling?"

Reimu threw the vase off her head knowing that she wouldn't fool anyone.

"Ok fine, you got me. What's new?" Reimu groaned.

"I should ask you why you were hiding from me, first. Second, my goddess' sent me here to hang out. They have some 'business' to take care of." Sanae responded. "Now come out in the light where I can see you! What are you doing?"

"I'm looking for a vase. I'm looking for this one in particular." Reimu said and resumed her work.

"This'll be hard if everything looks the same. Brown, red, purple, er... Is that green? Either way, it all looks the same no matter so I'm surprised someone as smart as you would go searching for something that vague."

"Don't blame me for such a mess. Blame Marisa—she puts everything in here."

Sanae knew that she couldn't persuade Reimu to do anything else. That girl was too headstrong for her to handle.

"Why do you need the vase?"

Reimu stopped digging and rose to her feet, giving Sanae "the look".

"Well, can you at least say something? I hate it when you do that without context."

"None of your business. Now, if you aren't going to help then you're free to leave me here with these heaps of garbage. I won't mind if you do."

 **.**

"How long has it been?"

"Since?"

"Since we sealed Shinki in Makai?"

Mima stroked her hair a little. She does that when she's thinking. "Ten years. Around the same time things went back to normal and before we departed."

"So why did Reimu lock you inside the vase?"

Mima, even if she didn't have any legs, "stood" up straight and glanced at the shed. "She wasn't the one who did it actually. I have no memory of whom. So, probably some human who _really_ hated evil spirits like me decided to make a vase that could seal them instead of doing it the traditional way. Like, sealing me in the Hokora or asking the local shrine maiden to do it for them since humans are cowards, exactly. Then they died."

"Don't mind me since clearly I'm butting into the conversation, but I need some enlightenment on this." Seija said leaving Sukuna behind to watch the three.

"Enlightenment?" Marisa asked. "So you're saying that hearing a three-hour story would be pleasant for the mind and good for the body eh? Or do you miss hearin' my voice _that_ much?"

"Not necessarily. I was talking to the ghost. I bet you tell horrible stories and I'd like to die instead. I'm not looking for those either." Seija pushed the witch out of the way.

"Sheesh..." Marisa rubbed her head.

Seija repeated the question to Mima, and like before she needed to take a few seconds to think her words through since the details she told could be pretty vague at times where she needed to clarify certain aspects of that situation multiple times. But Seija specifically asked her to tell her who Shinki was, not the story that came with it. That was hard; there was always a story when Shinki was mentioned.

"Don't bother being explicit with details." Seija said, "I just recognize the name."

"She's a goddess, lets say that. Someone who's heard of me and dreamed of fighting me for no good reason. Maybe because her power was so great that everyone who challenged her was wiped off the face of the planet in seconds. However, not to brag, she heard of my great power here and worshiped me like some kind of God. She's been starving for someone to fight her which is why she disturbed Gensokyo's peace, just for me.

So what did I do? I went down there and bet the living crap out of her of course! And it wasn't easy. I was starving for someone powerful to fight me as well, so in the end, no matter who won or who lost, it was all just fun and games. We had to put a seal over Makai after so she wouldn't think of breaking out and challenging me again. I wouldn't mind fighting her though."

Seija nodded along as she listened. "So then, who won?"

Mima stared at the amanojaku before giving her a huge grin with a thumbs-up.

"I did of course!"

 **.**

Sanae was finding many things in the shed that she wouldn't even guess she would find at Reimu's shrine ever. Besides vases, there were other random assortments of objects like kid toys and books and "other" toys and even weapons. Looking through one pile she found a pistol empty of it's ammunition.

"Marisa finds all this...?" She asked.

"Not all of it. Mostly the books and vases. Everything else was here before I was born and youkai I know drop things off occasionally as well. Like that record player I wish Wriggle didn't take." Reimu groaned.

"Gee, so was it your mother who collected some of this?"

Reimu paused. "Man, you ask too many questions. I don't know anything about my mother and probably never will. All I know is that she was killed before I was even a month old. That's what Yukari says."

"T-That's horrible!" Sanae whimpered and dropped the vase she was holding. Thank goodness it wasn't the one Reimu was searching for as it crashed to the ground and made Reimu jump.

"S-Sorry, but I feel bad that you didn't get to know your mother. I can relate."

"You can?"

Sanae was silent for a minute like she was crying on the inside. Reimu stood up and walked over to her.

"Hey... What happened?"

"I bet your mother was very nice, Reimu." Sanae spoke softly with a fake smile.

The shrine maiden grunted and went back to working. "False alarm huh? Don't toy with my feelings like that Sanae."

"I'll tell you another time. I'm not ready to relive the- Hey is this the one you're looking for?!" The wind priest jumped up in excitement and shook the vase around. "It smells weird..."

"Don't sniff it!" Reimu swiped the vase from her hands and sniffed it a little.

"Aha! Well, since I found it, do I get a reward?"

"Like what?"

"A kiss on the cheek of course!" Sanae beamed. "Fair maidens like me should get rewards like that for doing something dangerous and out of their comfort zone. Don't you think so Rei-"

The red-white shrine maiden was gone before Sanae could finish her sentence.

"...What will it take...?" She sighed.

 **.**

"Hey hey is that the vase? I was wondering where you ran off to." Mima said.

The four carefully examined the vase like it was part of a crime scene. It was if you think about it.

"It has talismans plastered over the body while the opening at the top was covered with some kind of white cloth. I bet when you broke out it ripped the cloth open." Seija observed.

"It's also gotta rope at the top too like it was holding the cloth down. Ain't that strange? I've never seen a vase like that before!" Marisa added with delight.

"And it's color. It's just plain brown isn't it? The runes are too damn small for any normal person to read." Reimu snorted.

"Like anyone normal can read runes." Mima teased.

"Well damn. I obviously have no use in this situation to begin with. How about I wander back over to the kid who's confessing her love to me? What am I suppose to say? Gosh..." Seija muttered.

"Congratulations." Reimu nodded. "You deserve it, emo."

"Certainly." Marisa clapped her hands in approval. "Congrats you two!"

"You've got to be fucking kidding me." Seija growled and stomped out of the circle.

Sukuna sat still wondering how Seija and her were going to interact now. Whether they'll talk like they normally did before or if it'll be too awkward for either of them to say anything.

 _"In time, I hope she can understand. Whether she takes it as sisterly, or what I truly meant for her to perceive. I'm trying not to regret my words, but I could've waited until the right moment. Either way, what's said has been said."_ She thought and kept on smiling as Seija joined her once more.

 _ **.**_

It was late at night when most were asleep. It was a long day of catching up and explaining going past the setting sun. Seija retired to her room early to get away from the others and wished Sukuna a good night's rest. Hopefully they both got better rest after talking it over.

Her door was closed hours ago yet her eyes were still open. The girl couldn't fall asleep.

 _"Really... Really?"_ Seija grumbled and pulled herself up to the small table in her room which held her diary. It was wide open on a blank page where she left off.

"Damn." She reached for a new pen and forcefully drove the tip into the page until ink splattered onto her dress. Only a little.

She stopped when she heard weird and uneven footsteps down the hall.

 _ **Step... Clunk... Step... Clunk... Step... Clunk... Step...**_

 __ _"Must be black-white..."_ Seija thought. _"I wonder how one can walk with a stub of wood for a leg?"_

The stepping stopped for a couple minutes before resuming and walking back to Seija's room. The amanojaku leered at the door and kept that position until the stepping stopped in front of her room. Then there were soft knocks.

"Yo Seija! Are you awake? I see the candle still lit in there!"

…

"I'm comin' in!" 

"Don't you dare disturb me!" Seija hissed from the other side.

…

The footsteps went the other way and faded. She was gone finally. Seija turned back to her diary and wiped at the page that wasn't coated in black ink. She thought for a second ands remembered the events of the day. She took her last working pen and started writing carefully on the white spots.

 _"...I can't remember the date today. Not that I need to know, but I feel like knowing is better than not knowing. I could do a lot of things with knowing the dates and the months and the years, but I don't have to know either. I'm fine right now and I don't care what happens next. I'm just glad that someone here still cares about my well-being. Multiple people do. So I finally have something good to write in here."_

Seija peered over to the wall of her room and saw a calender hanging up. It was then when her muscles in her shoulders relaxed for once.

… **...**


End file.
